So it was more than curious when the Rugby Football Unionʼs very own rugby director, Rob Andrew, suggested in a recent interview that England might be an even better side in the future.
“Is this team going to peak at this World ? I donʼt know. I doubt it, to be honest,” Andrew told the Daily Telegraph.
“I suspect this team will get better over the next two or three years. I donʼt think thereʼs any question of that, because the age profile and the experience profile is going to grow.”
However, the former England fly-half added: “That doesnʼt mean, today, itʼs not going to be good enough, or have the experience to win this World .”
It all sounded suspiciously like a case of getting your excuses in first from a man who has held his position at Twickenham while coaches such as Martin Johnson have come and gone.
When England coach Stuart Lancaster took over following the teamʼs quarter-final exit from the 2011 World , he spoke about the need to build experience into the side yet itʼs possible he could find himself fielding a novice midfield of Henry Slade and rugby league convert Sam Burgess, whose inclusion in the final 31-man squad remains controversial.
Yet it is far from unrealistic to see England, the 2003 champions, winning the World – especially if they come out on top of a tough pool that also includes Australia and Wales.
They boast a powerful pack, featuring forceful captain Chris Robshaw, although ideally the ball-carrying load would not fall quite so heavily on hooker Tom Youngs.
Doubts too remain about the efficiency of Englandʼs line-out given Dylan Hartley, who would have been first-choice hooker instead of Youngs, has been banned from the squad for disciplinary reasons.
Yet if Englandʼs forwards can produce quick balls they have, in fly-half George Ford and fleet-footed centre Jonathan Joseph, the players to do something with it.
Meanwhile, wings Jonny May and Anthony Watson, as they showed with an impressive early try apiece in Englandʼs 19-13 win over Six Nations champions Ireland at Twickenham in their final warm-up match at Twickenham last weekend, know how to finish.
But the fact England lost a couple of scrums against the head would have been a concern give the setpiece has long been a traditional source of strength.
So too would the lack of ruthlessness that saw Tom Youngs, with England 12-3 up after 24 minutes, butcher what could have been a match-clinching try with a forward pass.
England have not completed a Six Nations Grand Slam since 2003 and have yet to beat South Africa on Lancasterʼs watch, although they did managed a thrilling 30-22 win over world champions New Zealand at Twickenham in 2013.
Now the question is can they string enough high-class wins together?
One thing in their favour is that Englandʼs crunch pool games against Australia and Wales will be at Twickenham, where they should be able to count on a sell-out crowd roaring them on, although they will do well not to under-estimate Fiji, their opponents in the tournament opener next Friday.
“I know this team is ready,” said Lancaster. “But there are six or seven other teams who can win.
“Playing at Twickenham and playing the way we did [against Ireland] we can beat anyone.
“But we need to keep improving and put a consistent run of games together.”
Meanwhile, the USA, Scotland and Japan are all aiming for quarter-final places.
The United States have played in all but one of the previous seven tournaments but have so far never come close to qualifying for the knockout rounds after being eliminated in the pool stage.
Another challenging assignment awaits them in England, where they are lumped in Pool B with two-time champions South Africa, hard-hitting Samoa, Six Nations side Scotland and Asian giants Japan.
Yet the Americans have drawn confidence from the rapid development the game has made in recent years, and coach Mike Tolkin has also had the rare luxury of having his squad in camp for several weeks leading into the tournament.
Scotland suffered a disastrous Six Nations, but hard-nosed coach Vern Cotter seems to have succeeded in making his team turn a corner with a quarter-final place in the World Cup well within their reach.
After an autumn series in which they had beaten Argentina and pushed New Zealand close, the Scots ended up with the Six Nations wooden spoon last season, going close against France and Wales before losing away to England, going down at home to Italy and then rolling over to Ireland on the final day.
But Scotland have some form at World Cups. Their best finish was fourth in the 1991 tournament and they have reached the knockout stages of every otherWorld Cup except 2011 when they went out in the pool stages.
Four years ago they were drawn alongside England and Argentina in a tough pool, but ended up pushing both close after struggling past relative minnows Georgia and Romania.
The key game for the Scots this time around will be their fourth and final Pool B clash on October 10 against Samoa at Newcastle's St James Park.
Japan, meanwhile, have long dominated Asian rugby but they will have to ditch their emotional baggage if they are to achieve their ambitious target of reaching the WorldCup quarter-finals.
The ‘Brave Blossomsʼ have made great strides under Australian Eddie Jones, breaking into the worldʼs top 10 last year following a run of 10 successive wins which culminated in victory over Six Nations side Italy.
But even with Jones set to leave his job after the tournament, the former Wallabies coach insisted Japanʼs goal remained a place in the knockout stages in England, where they face South Africa, Samoa, Scotland and the United States in a tough Pool B.
“The reality is in the World Cup theyʼre all tough groups,” Jones told AFP in an interview before the team flew to Europe.
“Weʼve probably got to win three games in our pool. Whether weʼre good enough, weʼre going to find out. But certainly thatʼs our target, to make the quarter-finals.”
Be sure to pick up a copy of The Phuket News out on stands now (September 11-17 & Setember 18-24 editions) for a pull-out rugby wallchart, which includes brackets and all other match details and times.