New Zealand's 2011 Rugby World Cup-winning coach Graham Henry believes England have paid the ultimate price for trying to follow the blueprint laid down by his champion All Blacks side.

Henry is a man who knows all about the emotional rollercoaster of coaching a highly fancied team on the sport's biggest stage.

He survived overseeing New Zealand's shock quarter-final exit from the 2007 tournament at the hands of France to lead the All Backs to glory on home soil four years later, gaining revenge on Les Blues in the final at Auckland's Eden Park.

On Saturday England surpassed that surprise defeat in the pantheon of Rugby World Cup ignominy, becoming the first host nation ever to fail to reach the knockout stages.

Stuart Lancaster's men, having laboured to overcome Fiji in the tournament opener, subsequently lost to Wales and Australia at their Twickenham fortress, leaving the country's rugby fans distraught and with the prospect of an far-reaching inquest imminent. 

And while Lancaster's superiors may be preparing to try and work out exactly what - other than receiving a nightmare draw - went wrong, Henry believes he's already identified England's key failing. 

"I think they've been playing the wrong game for a long time," he was quoted as saying by the New Zealand Herald. 

"They are trying to simulate the way the All Blacks play and I don't think they have the skill level to do that because they simply don't come from that sort of environment. 

"They've changed their game in recent years and it hasn't been successful so Lancaster will get some stick in the press. 

"He's tried hard Stuart, no doubt about that. He has good standards in his team, good culture but they're not good enough at this level."

Clive Woodward, who led England to their one and only Rugby World Cup triumph in Australia in 2003, echoed the sentiments of Henry, questioning in particular the team's spectacular failure to exploit home advantage.

"Let's not waste time with excuses. Let's lose with dignity," Woodward said in the Daily Mail.

"In the final analysis we simply haven't been good enough, on or off the field, at this World Cup and the way forward will be just that little bit easier if we admit that straight away.

"No expense has been spared in England's preparation and they were at home in both matches. Everything was in England's favour and they should have cashed in."