Sunday 4 October 2015 21:02, UK
Wales coach Warren Gatland has slammed the "ridiculous" decision to draw the 2015 World Cup pools almost three years ago.
England became the biggest group stage casualties in the tournament's history following defeats to the Welsh and Australia at Twickenham.
And Gatland, whose side face the Wallabies next weekend which will decide who will top Pool A, said it had been the "group of hell" and felt sorry for Stuart Lancaster's side.
"It has been not just the group of death, but the group of hell, basically, for all of us," the New Zealander said.
"Everyone is making a thing about the first home country to hold a World Cup to miss out on the quarter-finals, but the stupid thing, as we all know, is why was the World Cup draw done three years ago?
"That's just ridiculous as far as I am concerned. If they had followed the football model, then we wouldn't be in this position.
"There are other people outside this who need to have a look at themselves and why those decisions were made, and you have got to feel sorry for the people involved and who this has affected."
England's 33-13 loss to Australia means it is their worst World Cup performance.
Asked if he had sympathy for under-fire head coach Lancaster, Gatland replied: "Absolutely.
"For what he has done when he took over the job, in terms of the discipline he has instilled in that side and how his players conduct themselves, I have a huge amount of respect for what he has done.
"If Stuart does get an opportunity to continue, this is potentially a massive moment for him as a coach and he will look back on the experiences of the World Cup and the Six Nations, where he has been so close.
"Those experiences will make him a better coach and you learn from defeats and failures, rather than the successes."
He added: "Australia have done us a massive favour, but I felt with 15-20 minutes to go, it was like sitting in the (coaches') box myself because you are going through the emotions of what the coaches are doing."
