Kane Thompson believes the Samoan Rugby Union has to "go back to the drawing board" if they are to move forward from their disastrous Rugby World Cup campaign.
Samoa -- two-time quarterfinalists -- slipped meekly out of the tournament on Saturday following a 26-5 defeat by Japan, who took advantage of ill-discipline to race into a 20-0 half-time lead.
Thompson and his team-mates have one more Pool B game to play, against Scotland on Oct. 10, but, regardless of that result, the lock says it is unacceptable for a group of players as talented as Samoa's to perform as they have done in England.
"As a team, as a union we have to go back to the drawing board and obviously assess everything that has gone on," Thompson told ESPN. "Because with the players we have here, I think the talent within this squad and the talent of Samoan rugby players, we shouldn't accept these results.
"I'm not taking anything away from Japan -- they have been a great side in this World Cup, it's been really exciting to watch them -- but we don't want to be a country or a team that accepts mediocrity. And I suppose the way we've played I think we've been very mediocre, we haven't shown anything of what we're capable of in this World Cup, so things are going to have to be addressed.
"We've just got to assess everything, something has to happen because we're a team that can be capable of a lot and that hasn't happened."
Although Thompson insisted it was not for him to say what exactly the union needed to do to restore the national team to its former glory, scrum-half Kahn Fotuali'i was rather more candid in his assessment of the side's shortcomings.
The Northampton Saints No.9 blamed early indiscretions and handling errors for their loss to Japan, saying first-half yellow cards that briefly saw Samoa reduced to 13 men had made their task harder.
"Discipline, stupidity," he pinpointed as major factors for their slow start in Milton Keynes. "Credit to Japan, they put the pressure down on us but [it was] mainly ill-discipline from ourselves really"
"We'll look at the game after tonight and we'll fix the things that we need to work on. Just quickly off the top of my head, we just need to look after our ball and play in the right areas."