Ireland boss Andy Farrell didn't feel that his 6:2 bench split selection call was a factor in their narrow Six Nations loss to England.
The head coach was magnanimous in defeat but felt it was indiscipline and a disjointed defence that cost his team.
Ireland’s first Six Nations reverse since 2022 ended their back-to-back Grand Slam hopes but still leaves them well set to retain their title when Scotland visit Dublin next weekend.
Four Jack Crowley penalties had Ireland 12-8 up at the break and a brace of James Lowe tries in the second half almost got the visitors, who had beaten England in their last four ties, over the line at a boisterous Twickenham Stadium.
But stung from two weeks of criticism from fans and media, Steve Borthwick’s side dug out a superb performance, with tries from Ollie Lawrence, George Furbank and man of the match Ben Earl, and Marcus Smith’s dropgoal securing a well-deserved victory for the hosts.
England had 60% territory and 53% possession, carried 786 metres to Ireland’s 449 and made eight line-breaks versus just two from the visitors.
Ireland had used a 6:2 bench split against France and Wales, and once again Farrell decided to use Conor Murray and Ciarán Frawley as the back cover against England.
However, he was forced into an early change when Calvin Nash (above) collided awkwardly with Tommy Freeman prior to Lawrence's fourth-minute try, and his replacement, Frawley, failed his head injury assessment after tackling Freeman just before Furbank’s touchdown.
Murray replaced Frawley with Jamison Gibson-Park moving to the wing for the last 30 minutes.
Incidentally, Frawley’s tackle forced Freeman’s foot into touch but it was not spotted by any of the officials.
Farrell (below) said both injured players were "OK, within themselves, but going through the protocols" after the game.
"Well, you're damned if you do [and damned if you don't]," he said of the selection.
"No, it's the best thing since sliced bread when it goes well for you, isn't it?"
"I mean, yeah, it's just rugby, isn't it? You go with a 5:3 bench and you can run out of backs very quickly, depending on what you've got cover-wise.
"It's not a factor for me, I mean it's just the game.
"Sometimes you can be unlucky. I mean Calvin coming out and hitting the guy, they scored the try on the back of that and then 'Frawls' comes on for him and, again, he was under the weather for the other try.
"It was costly enough periods, but it's not the reason why we lost the game."
Frawley's introduction meant fit-again Hugo Keenan (above) moved to the wing and his usual attacking game was curtailed with the early switch.
"There was prep, these are the sort of permutations you have to prepare for," said the Leinster man, who won his 39th cap.
"It was hugely disappointing, losing Nashy in the first five minutes. He's had a brilliant campaign so far and is playing out of his skin.
"He’s really stepped up, he was a huge loss. But I don’t think it fazed us.
"Frawley was prepared to play 15, I was prepared to play on the wing, so I don’t think anyone can make any excuses for it.
"That’s the requirement of a pro rugby player, you have to be across it all. We can’t make excuses for any sort of scenario, you have to prep all week for any situations to happen.
"It’s not ideal, I’d prefer if Nashy was fit for the whole game but that’s rugby, it’s a physical sport.
"The likes of Jamison also stepped up well, he’s such a skillful player who can slot in well and adapt as we need to, it’s Test match rugby."
On what he felt Ireland could have done better, Farrell said: "The message at half-time was how to improve our territory and possession battle, to be aware of our surroundings a little bit more.
"I thought we became a little bit too desperate to try and solve things on our own, whether it be decision-making at the breakdown or look at your surroundings at the breakdown.
"Are you offside or not, what have you got on the outside of you defensively, what's the system we need to communicate to each other?
"It's a little bit disjointed as far as that's concerned and that's what gave them the access.
"Again, the discipline stuff. It’s not just discipline stuff as regards penalties are concerned, it’s discipline in how we play our game as well.
"That would be the main thing as well because that was the main reason they got access into the game.
"But they applied the pressure well, in how they carried the attack, how they played quickly from good field play, so congratulations to them."
Still, Ireland had done enough to nose ahead with Lowe’s second try in the 73rd minutes and the review will focus on how they saw out the final stages.
After winning a lineout on their own 22, Murray kicked to touch with 85 seconds left on the clock.
England carried deep into Irish territory off the lineout to get themselves into a winning position.
"It's not just that, it accumulates to the reason why you're either two points up or any other type of scenario," said Farrell.
"I thought we could have kicked longer and out, the other one was out and a little bit short and those are the small bits that matter in the end.
"Do you know what, at the end of the day... I might sound stupid saying this, but I thought it would have been unjust if England hadn't won the game.
"They played really well and they deserved it.
"Just because you deserve it doesn't mean you get it, but that was the end result in the end."
Ireland now have to pick themselves up for a title shot on Saturday against a Scotland team that lost to Italy but still have a triple crown target to play for.
"Anti-climax? How many times have we won the Six Nations," said the 48-year-old when asked if fans may see winning the title as a secondary prize
"Everyone would love to be our position, we’ve got to make sure we are loving that challenge as well
"I have absolutely no doubt that [our supporters] 100% will be on song.
"Paddy’s weekend again, a chance to win a Six Nations, it doesn’t get…well it could have been a little better.
"But these things, the Grand Slams are unbelievably hard to come by. Six Nations are hard enough, as everyone would vouch for.
"It’s about getting to the last week, as we said at the start, and we’re here, so making sure that we understand what’s it going to take to recover properly and analyse that performance properly.
"The Scots as well [will be up for it] at the same time, so it’s a proper Test match week coming up."
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