Kick or twist Smith's costly misses should force rethink for England in game of shrinking margins

Anyone who has ever played sport knows that desperate sinking feeling. One minute the world is a wonderful place and you are doing what you love most.

- Robert Kitson

Then, out of nowhere, it all goes completely Pete Tong. That costly lapse in concentration, that tiny missed putt, that simple dropped catch. Heartbreak is as much a part of the game - perhaps more so - as heroism or happiness. And the more extravagantly talented the individual, the worse it can be. Higher standards are demanded. They can suddenly be accused of letting down not just their teammates but the entire country. Television cameras highlight every facial twitch. And here come the rest of the media pack to pick over the entrails, particularly if the scoreboard says the moment of fallibility was the difference between winning and losing. Call it the Riddle Of Rory McIlroy.

At which point there tend to be two schools of thought. One is that dealing with savage disappointment makes people more likely to succeed in future. It's not the waking nightmare that matters, it's how you respond to it. Just keep doing what you do. To err is human. Sooner or later, the wheel of fate will spin back in your favour, dissolving self-doubt and building character quicker than you can say Rudyard Kipling.

Alternatively, particularly in professional team sport, there is a ruthless call to be made. Does a coach keep faith with the batter who keeps nicking off when well set? Or the experienced striker who hasn't scored in a dozen games? Or the gifted fly-half whose iffy goalkicking has just enabled the All Blacks to avoid an historic defeat? Fair play to old Rudyard but surely he knows modern-day sport is a results business?