England under Stuart Lancaster were the nearly men, even in the World Cup that was to end his 47 months in charge. In weightlifting terms, they could get the bar above their heads but could not keep it there. He often said that sport at the highest level came down to small margins and his team too often fell short by millimetres when it mattered.

Lancaster’s first defeat was against Wales at Twickenham and the loss that effectively ended his time as head coach was against the same opponents at the same venue nearly seven weeks ago. In 2012, they were undone by a try scored by a replacement named Williams after a defensive error and in the World Cup a try created by a replacement named Williams after a defensive mistake rescued Wales from the brink of defeat. Both matches ended with England looking to salvage a draw in the right-hand corner, denied a try by the video referee three years ago and spurning the chance to tie the scores with a penalty in September only for a lineout drive to fizzle out.

The two matches summed up Lancaster’s reign. They only lost four Six Nations matches in four years but each defeat cost them the title: Wales in 2012 and 2013, France in 2014 when a late lapse after an attacking lineout cost them and Ireland this year. They were a collapsed maul away from winning the tournament in March against France: no penalty try and no trophy.

The margins were small but England, whether through a lack of experience, discipline or the capacity to think clearly when pressure was at its most intense, regularly missed out. It came together for them at the end of 2012 against New Zealand but they failed to beat the All Blacks afterwards, never managed more than a draw against South Africa, despite being in winning positions, and a winning streak against Australia at Twickenham ended in the World Cup with a record home defeat against them.

A common theme was England’s struggle to see out tight matches. They threw it away against Wales in the World Cup and after fighting back against Australia the following week came within a converted try of the Wallabies, despite being outplayed for the most part, only to blow it through indiscipline, just as they had against the Springboks the previous November. Lancaster bore the responsibility as head coach, and his selection policy at times seemed contradictory, but his players were not quite good enough as a unit, maturing as they went along.

Lancaster will see someone else reap his harvest, as so often happens in sport. England should have made the quarter-finals of the World Cup but that would have been their natural resting place: they lacked the skill and precision of New Zealand, the slickness of Australia, the strength and brio of Argentina, the knowhow and cussedness of South Africa, while Wales and Ireland had more experience and solidarity. In another pool, England could have made the last eight but their tendency to fracture under pressure would have been the same.

When he took over after the 2011 World Cup, which seemed a fiasco then but at least lasted until the knockout stage, Lancaster cast out a number of experienced players, ushering in a new era based on humility, teamwork, a reconnection with the grassroots and attention to detail. Players who have emerged since then, such as Anthony Watson, George Ford, Billy Vunipola, Joe Launchbury, Henry Slade, Jonny May, Jonathan Joseph and George Kruis, have the potential to become leading figures in the international game in the next four years, and will do if England absorb what they saw in the World Cup and express themselves.

Lancaster hoped that by the World Cup he would have a core of players around the 50-cap mark but he was undermined by injuries and never found an inside-centre to live up to his ideal in the position, a second-five in the mould of Matt Giteau who could exploit the attacking threat of those outside him. It was where Sam Burgess came in, an act of desperation rather than inspiration that will sadly define the regime of a man who, if he had his time again, would probably be less collegiate in his approach.

In the end, an Australian did for him. If Kurtley Beale had not scored a last-second try in Cardiff in 2012, Wales would not have been in England’s World Cup group and if Beale had not embroiled himself in a disciplinary dispute in the summer of last year, Michael Cheika would not have been appointed the head coach of the Wallabies. Playing at home in the World Cup should have been an advantage but it only added to the pressure on one of the youngest squads in the World Cup and Lancaster, armed with a year’s pay, is out of work as a consequence.

Stuart Lancaster’s overall England record

Games 46; Wins 28 Losses 17; Draws 1; Win ratio 60.9%; Biggest win 60-3 v Uruguay, World Cup, City of Manchester Stadium, 10 October, 2015; Biggest loss 30-3 v Wales, Six Nations, Millennium Stadium, 16 March, 2013.

Six Nations record

Games 20; Wins 16; Losses 4 Draws 0; Win ratio 80%; Titles 0.

Record v New Zealand, Australia and South Africa

Games 15; Wins 3; Losses 11; Draws 1; Win ratio 20%; World Cup record; Games 4; Wins 2; Losses 2; Draws 0; Win ratio 50%.