A brace of tries from England winger Jonny May over the space of three minutes in the first half sunk the Wallabies 40-16 in the Rugby World Cup quarterfinal on Saturday, October 19.

Former Wallaby David Campese was frustrated with the result and the errors made, but felt the game could have gone either way heading into the contest.

"I think there was a lot of expectation heading in," Campese said.

"If you look at the teams, anyone on the day could have won.

"We came up against a team who knew our strengths and weaknesses and we made a lot of simple mistakes.

"It was one of those games where we had opportunities, but just didn't take them.

"You have to make your own luck in these games."

The Wallabies were quick off the blocks and looked good early on, taking the lead with a penalty, but two tries to May gave the English a 17-9 lead at the break.

The Australians also started the better of the two sides in the second half, getting themselves within a point after a Marika Koroibete try on the left wing.

Unfortunately, that was the end of the joy.

Tries to Kyle Sinckler and Anthony Watson, along with three penalties, put England through to the semifinals to face New Zealand.

"Overall, it's not the result Australians wanted, but on the other hand, we've got younger guys coming through," Campese said.

"I'd say we were great, but on the other hand, we've got a lot of improving to do."

What the Wallabies do now will be vital for the future.

"We haven't really played a great performance," Campese said.

"We'll look at where we go from here and what we need to do to improve.

"We need to head into the next world cup knowing that if we're in the same situation again, we'll be able to perform a lot better."