BALL PROBLEM?: England first-five Jonny Wilkinson missed five straight penalty attempts but did make a crucial late three-pointer in England's 13-9 win over Argentina.

Rugby World Cup officials say feedback on the tournament's new ball has been "overwhelmingly positive", despite England goal-kicker Jonny Wilkinson putting in the worst kicking performance of his international career with it.

Wilkinson missed five attempts in a row at goal during England's scrappy 13-9 win over Argentina on Saturday, an unprecedented shocker for a player renowned for his accuracy with the boot.

The 32-year-old said after the match that he did not seem able to control Gilbert's latest model, the Virtuo.

But unlike the 2007 World Cup, when Wilkinson was highly critical of the ball, he stopped short of blaming this one.

"The difficulty was that I felt I was hitting the ball well and expecting to see it go where I wanted it to go, but when the ball moves a bit how do you correct something that didn't feel wrong." he said.

Before the tournament started Wilkinson told London's Telegraph: "The balls have changed a little bit so we're working every day just to get used to it".

"No one likes change when it comes to high pressure stuff but it's the same for everyone. I'm not averse to a bit of grumpiness when it comes to changing balls but you've got to get on with it. You have to try and dominate the ball rather than let it do the opposite.

"If I kick a ball at this World Cup I will do it confidently."

The Wallabies said after their victory against Italy that they had no great issues with the Virtuo, apart from the usual minor adjustments that come with the debut of every new ball.

Quade Cooper missed his first attempt at goal but had no trouble with his tactical kicking, while James O'Connor discharged his responsibilities with aplomb after taking over kicking responsibilities in the 47th minute.

Chris Paterson, Scotland's highly accurate goal-kicker, made the botch of the round with a conversion attempt against Romania that barely made it off the ground, although that appeared to be more about a wobbly tee than the ball itself.

An IRB spokesman today said organisers had received "overwhelmingly positive" feedback on the ball, which was introduced to international rugby unions as early as November last year.

The Virtuo, which weighs 460 grams, was used in the Six Nations tournament and by June this year 16 of the 20 World Cup teams had tested the ball in test matches.

It was then given to the remaining four teams before the tournament for use in training.

The ball has a new bladder and new valve. The valve's weight has also been modified to "improve stability during rotation (passing and kicking)", Gilbert said in a statement.

Designers have kept the pimple pattern on the surface of the ball the same as the Virtuo's predecessor, the Synergie.

"Following testing Gilbert identified that the importance of familiarity in feel of the grip to players outweighed any benefit in modifying the pattern," the company said.