What if England fail to reach the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals too?

World Cup in crisis - what are the odds of England being knocked out of the cricket, rugby and football group stages?

My father headed off to the USA on Sunday, having watched the Cricket World Cup on Sky for the last seven nights. An avid cricket player in his day but now a TV spectator; mesmerised by Ireland, thrilled for Afghanistan but quietly confident England would sneak up on the rails.

When I texted him with "what did you think of England game", I didn't get a response. I know he is gutted. I now find myself introducing this article from our correspondent Scott Donaldson and I wonder what my Dad is thinking now?

Could England be eliminated in the group stages of the Rugby World Cup too?

England is a proud sporting nation, after all, they invented many sports, yet they now find themselves in the vulnerable position of not only struggling to win the latest versions of the World Cups, but they could face the complete humiliation of not even making it past the group stages of all three! 

It is indeed dark times for England sport. 

It is hard to put your finger on what has happened, but for some reason, off-field incidents seem to plague England teams, maybe it is the fault of their own tabloid? Or could it be because their professional competitions feature too many foreign players at the expense of England players?

Anyway, England hosts the Rugby World Cup later this year and must at least make the quarter-finals to avoid the ultimate humiliation of failing to make it out of the group stages of the FIFA World Cup, ICC Cricket World Cup and the Rugby World Cup!

It is easier said than done, as they are in the toughest group, featuring England, Australia, Wales, Fiji and Uruguay. 

Both Wales and Australia progressed further than England in the Rugby World Cup 2011 and can be tough on their day, so finishing third in this group is not completely out of the picture. 

It is hard to know what to make of England's chances really, when you consider that they seem to have taken three steps forward and two steps back under Stuart Lancaster. 

They appear to have reverted back to type by kicking away front foot ball and at times being more concerned with not making mistakes, rather than spreading the ball.

We also can't write off Fiji in that group as they have made the knockout stages themselves at times, but might struggle this time around. Uruguay probably won't win a game.

You can understand the England football team missing out on the second round of the FIFA World Cup, given the depth in the sport worldwide, but not making the ICC Cricket World Cup quarter-finals is a crime for England. 

Failure to do so in the Rugby World Cup would be a tragedy given that they are the hosts of the tournament.

You would have got great money on this betting option, but surely they must qualify for the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup and save face. 

Usually the home team does well in the Rugby World Cup tournament. This means Wales or Australia would miss out. That pool is intriguing. 

It is sad that just making the quarter-finals will be a relief for fans, let alone winning the Rugby World Cup 2015.