France lead the table with a maximum 10 points after picking up a second bonus point win by beating Wales, whilst South Africa's 102 point rout over Georgia puts them one point behind in second.
Australia's 45-24 defeat of Fiji means they also have nine points, as do New Zealand after their victory. The two matches between the teams currently occupying the top four spots (France v South Africa and New Zealand v Australia) are also crucial to England hopes, as bonus points from any team will put them our of England's reach.
Allen said: "It was exciting at times, for the first 20 minutes we had them on the ropes but we missed our opportunities which is a shame because they would have set a different tone for the match.
"We put a few kicks wide and our heads went down a little and they created a turnover and scored from it. We played some good rugby at times but we just weren't able to get the points. They were strong, particularly at the breakdown and in their backs.
"Our defence was good, but they made the most of our mistakes and were good with the offload. They were also good at getting over the ball at the breakdown, slowing our ball down.
"We won the second half and scored a couple of tries so we've got lots of positives to take, we played some good stuff in areas."
