England braces for financial fallout after World Cup collapse

A nation was left reeling Sunday after England crashed out of its own Rugby World Cup, with experts predicting the country would take an economic hit to add to the huge sporting blow.

England suffered the humiliation of becoming the first World Cup host nation to bow out in the first round after a 33-13 defeat to Australia at Twickenham ended their hopes of reaching the quarter-finals.

And the disaster on the pitch could spill over into the wider economy as pubs, sponsors and advertisers miss out on bumper revenues -- not to mention the escalating feel-good factor created when the host nation has a strong run in a tournament.

Rugby World Cup organisers insisted the competition as a whole would not be affected, with stadiums all but sold out right up to the final.

As England supporters and the legion of Australian ex-pats in London woke up nursing their hangovers, at the street level, the operation to sweep away memories of the match was under way.

Across swathes of districts along the route to Twickenham, where England and Australia rugby fans congregated to watch the game in pubs and bars, chips, spilt beer and vomit-stained pavements told the tale of a hectic night out.

But with England out, that buzz of activity and nightlife will now likely subside.

Professor Alex Edmans, of the London Business School, oversaw a long-term study on the effects of sporting defeats for 39 national teams in major tournaments.

"A rugby loss leads to a next-day (stock market) decline of 0.15 percent, which is roughly £3 billion ($4.6 billion, 4.1 billion euros) for the UK stock market," he said.

Simon Chadwick, a professor of sport business strategy and marketing at Coventry University, said the impact of England's exit would be felt most profoundly through the drop-off of casual rugby fans.

"Any sporting competition in which the host nation doesn't do well is always going to be exposed to some difficulties, and there is no reason to expect that things will be any different for England," he told AFP.

"There is a hard-core rugby fan-base in England that is unlikely to be put off watching rugby, so I don't expect a massive drop-off in economic activity among English rugby fans," he explained.

"Furthermore, there are still significant numbers of overseas fans here that are sufficient to generate a fairly buoyant economic benefit.

"However, it is among those people who are not normally interested in rugby and among members of the general public where we are likely to see the most acute drop-off in interest and economic activity."

- Stadiums full -

World Rugby president Bernard Lapasset insisted England's elimination would not have an impact on the tournament as a whole.

"There will be no consequences for the organisation," he told AFP.

"We think there will be slightly fewer people in the fanzones. But the tickets for the matches are sold.

"Supporters from all over the world are in the country. And the English often have sentimental or family ties elsewhere in the world and perhaps they will support other teams," the Frenchman added.

Indeed, the three other sides representing parts of the United Kingdom -- Scotland, Wales and the all-Ireland team -- remain in the tournament.

Australia's No. 8 David Pocock said it was hard to gauge whether the hosts going out in the first round would have a negative impact on the tournament as a whole, though the England team might feel the sharp end of criticism.

"It seems like the English press is pretty ruthless, so that's going to be tough," he told AFP.

"DisAUSter!" said The Sun newspaper, while The Sunday Telegraph's front page said: "The dream of a nation is over".

Many carried front-page pictures of England captain Chris Robshaw looking distraught, while columnists and former England players raked over how it all went so wrong.