Joe Schmidt came straight out and said it.
There was simply no way to disguise the fact that Ireland got jumped by England.
"We probably didn't have the same physical edge that they did," was how Schmidt put it, also comparing the 32-20 defeat to the time New Zealand "bullied" them here in 2016.
The bumps and bruises might not be healed fully for next week's game in Edinburgh but his pride may have taken a hit as well.
Because Ireland got out-smarted.
Eddie Jones is the bull and bluster, a grenade-throwing sledger, Schmidt is the cool-as-you-like headmaster but there was only one winner last night.
The visitors played on the edge, like all World Cup winners do, and the Grand Slam champions had no answer.
"The disappointing thing for us was the way we started," said Rory Best afterwards.
"We let England get [ahead] and we couldn't ever get on to the front foot."
It was a common trait in Ireland losses pre-2018. It shouldn't really be an issue at this stage of Schmidt's tenure. With England hurting from two successive defeats, it only made sense that they would start as they did.
The New Zealander also admitted that he foresaw some of the tactics but was at a loss to conceive a workaround.
England didn't mind giving away the odd penalty – the penalties conceded count was 4-8 – as long as they nullified Ireland's aerial threat.
"We've got to come up with solution to [the blockers]. I would have probably anticipated a lot of that happening." he said, hinting that if the officials were not of a mind to take a firm stance, Ireland would have to invent something to solve that problem. They didn't.
For a coach whose reputation is built on tactical awareness and eye for detail, he also appeared slow to react to Keith Earls' injury, eventually hauling him off at half-time after he had taken two heavy hits early on.
While the Munster man tried to run off his hip injury, Robbie Henshaw was left to cover more ground than a man making his second appearance as an international full-back should.
"I thought Robbie did a pretty good job," said Schmidt.
"Keith tried to run off his hip [issue] for 20 minutes so he was under a little bit of pressure to cover the space and take responsibility so Robbie had to double job at times.
"I thought the volume of running he did, he was a good as he could have been. You just need fully fit guys who can cover that space effectively.
"I do think Robbie worked incredibly hard." That doesn't cut it in a Six Nations game against England. Expect Rob Kearney to return against Scotland.
After Henry Slade's first try on 66 minutes the jig was up and an Owen Farrell penalty made it 25-13 with 10 minutes to play.
At that stage Murray's day was done and it would have been a useful exercise at the very least to give John Cooney a longer run out. In the end the replacement scrum-half got a three-minute cameo, during which he scored Ireland's second try.
Ranked number two but heralded beforehand as the "best team in the world", Ireland and their coach have lots of lessons to learn if they are to retain their title, or as mentioned by Schmidt, make an impact in Japan.
Jones said before the game: "Everyone is writing them up and they have got to carry that expectation round, so we're excited about the prospect of playing there. Praise can make you weak."
It appears Jones envisaged the game playing out as it did but he didn't see the win as getting one back on his counterpart: "That doesn't really concern me. Joe is an outstanding coach," he said.
Asked if he still considered Ireland the best in the world, the England boss, who has an 81% win-rate in international rugby, said: "Well, I don't think that changes in one game.
"Ireland have been consistently good. You guys are writing it so it must be true. My mother reads the paper and she believes everything you write."
Scotland will provide a totally different challenge but Ireland will need massive improvement if they are to stay alive in the race.
