Wales forward Ian Gough does not expect England to be weaker in any after just one team qualified for the Heineken Cup playoffs and Gough says that it may even help England.
England only managed to get one team into the Quarter finals after all but Northampton Saints were knocked out.
Two of England's seven Heineken Cup teams - Bath and Harlequins - managed to record just one win in the 12 games between them.
The final overall pool placings show Northampton were eighth, Gloucester 10th, Leicester 13th, London Irish 14th, Sale Sharks 15th, Bath 19th and Quins 22nd.
In contrast to England France produced four quarter-finalists and Wales got the Ospreys into the quarter finals with Cardiff Blues and the Scarlets reaching the Amlin Challenge Cup play offs.
The result is England's worst Heineken Cup performance in the 14 seasons they have entered the competition.
However, England may just benefit from the early European exits.
In 2006, South African coach at the time Jake White rested his top players for their end of year tour and then rested them again during the TriNations of 2007. There is clear evidence that resting a nations top players can result in an increase in a player's performance down the road.
Immediately, though Gough believes that the Heineken Cup disappointment will drive England through the Six Nations and that there will be no hangover when England host Wales at Twickenham on February the 6th for their opening SixNations match.
"It is a bit of a confidence blow for them, to be honest," he said.
"They have always had a very strong representation at this stage of Europe, and I am sure they will be very disappointed.
"Either way though, the players are in a different camp now.
"England are a very professional outfit, and it's about what they do over the next couple of weeks.
"It might be a confidence blip now, but two weeks is a long time in rugby.
"It's a big time for England - they are under a lot of pressure.
"Results and performances haven't gone their way, so they are still striving, but it only takes a bit of a purple patch to get that confidence up."
Wales coach Warren Gatland's Six Nations squad have now assembled after a weekend which saw the Ospreys beat Leicester, Cardiff Blues beat Quins and the Scarlets winning in Brive.
"It has been a good couple of weeks," Wales assistant coach Rob Howley told Ireland.com.
"The Ospreys have delivered in Europe, the Scarlets produced the goods in Brive and the Blues delivered at Quins a week after beating Sale.
"But we have all played in England versus Wales games, and it is what happens in those 80 minutes that count.
"Our players will have gained a huge amount of confidence and self-belief, but they know it's a different game in two weeks' time.
"The Heineken Cup is an important barometer, and the players have had a good hit-out in that. Our sole focus now is England.
"You win your first game in the Six Nations, and the momentum is with you. This is a big first game."
Gatland is expected to name his team to face England at Twickenham next Sunday and his only real debates appear to be over centre and scrum-half.
British Lions star Jamie Roberts is expected to play at centre and Gatland will have to decide whether he will play James Hook at centre or stick with in-form Scarlets prospect Jonathan Davies or recall Tom Shanklin.
Gatland's biggest headache though will be at number nine as Lions Mike Phillips and Dwayne Peel are both injured which leaves Gatland to choose between Gareth Cooper, Martin Roberts - who has never started a Six Nations Test - or the uncapped Richie Rees.
Wales have only recorded one win at Twickenham in 22 years, but that 2008 triumph kick-started a Grand Slam season which 61-times-capped squad member Gough remembers well.
He added: "We had just come off the 2007 World Cup, when we had got dumped out by Fiji."
"We had new coaches come in, and we only had a 12-day preparation time before facing England.
"It was a tough game - we were backs against the wall in the first half - then in the second half we had a purple patch when we scored two tries in six or seven minutes, I think.
"The confidence just sort of went through the roof from there, and that was the big foundation for our Grand Slam effort that year.
"Last season's Six Nations was close."
"We came within a last-second kick of winning a Triple Crown, and had a very close game in France, which is what decides these tournaments.
"We ended up fourth in the end, but it could have been another Grand Slam or a Triple Crown - that's how finely balanced it is."
