A dejected Maro Itoje admitted that his England side had to “face reality” after suffering a first defeat to Italy.
The visitors were beaten for a third successive game as they squandered an eight-point lead to slump to a new Six Nations low.
The Azzurri had tried and failed to conquer their opponents in 32 previous meetings, but seized their opportunity late on as England toiled.
Captain Itoje was one of two England players shown a yellow card in the second half, with the lock sent to the sin bin for a cynical slap-down at a maul after Sam Underhill had been picked up for a high tackle.
After failing to find the reaction they had promised after defeats to Scotland and Ireland, Itoje admitted that he and his squad had to take responsibility.
“Look, it’s obviously disappointing,” Itoje told ITV. “It’s on us as players. We have to wear the performance. This team over the last year have put some good performances together; of recent, we haven’t. We have to face the facts and face reality and get back to work.
“We obviously have to figure that out. If we knew, we probably wouldn’t be in this position. Teams go through tough periods, and we are going through a tough period now. As players, we take responsibility for that.
“We just have to own the result. We are in a results-based business, and the result wasn’t good enough. As players, and as captain, I take responsibility for that.”
The nature of the performance will again prompt questions over England’s direction under head coach Steve Borthwick.
They had extended their winning run to 12 matches by beating Wales in round one of the Six Nations, but now travel to Paris on the final Saturday in fifth in the table and facing the prospect of a one-win campaign.
