Three years after being part of an England team fêted for winning the World Cup by going on an open-top bus tour in London in front of cheering masses and meeting the Queen at Buckingham Palace, Ben Kay left the field on Saturday to boos.

"The fans have every right to vent their frustration and it certainly marked the lowest point of my career," said the England lock and vice-captain. "Everyone is very down and we need time to reflect before moving on. It is clearly going to be difficult defending our World Cup trophy in France next year. Let's be honest, results suggest that will not be the case but Australia went into the 2003 tournament in far from good shape and they came within a Jonny Wilkinson drop-goal of winning the trophy. It is not beyond the realms of possibility that we can do it but it will take a lot of hard work."

The message from the England camp after their first defeat at home to a non-foundation union was that errors had cost them, turnovers especially, but they did not cough up possession as much as Argentina. They simply did not cash in on mistakes. They also lost the battle of the breakdown and the match turned either side of half-time when England let a 10-3 lead turn into a two-point deficit after Pat Sanderson, who was fortunate not to receive a yellow card for killing the ball under his own posts, Jamie Noon and Lewis Moody conceded penalties at rucks.

England struggled at the scrum, where Sanderson was out of position at No8, giving first Shaun Perry and then Peter Richards slow ball. Yet they remained welded to an expansive game plan and played into the Pumas' tacklers.

Andy Robinson substituted his half-backs before sorting out the prime source of their discomfort, a back row that was not working as a unit. "We are not playing together as a team," said Kay. "We are caught between two stools: we were criticised last year for playing too tight a game and being too collision-based but rugby is a collision sport. We have backs who can run rings around opponents but we were too predictable in trying to get the ball wide all the time and Argentina's game plan worked. It is a question of balance.

"We cannot have individuals going off on their own because they just get turned over. We have to tighten up. We are not going to become the finished article overnight. We have gone in completely the opposite direction from last season and it is not so much a question of coaching as playing. We seem to be playing almost Sevens rugby and, while we perhaps needed to throw off the shackles, we have to find a mixture of tight and loose."

Lewis Moody believes the bold approach of the backs coach, Brian Ashton, will pay off, saying: "You have to place emphasis on the set-pieces and breakdown but you have to have an attacking philosophy, otherwise there is no point in playing. I do not want to be hitting rucks and making tackles all day. I want my hands on the ball but we have to play as a collective rather than as individuals."