Ireland finished their Six Nations campaign with two wins but captain Rory Best admitted to a sense of "frustration" about the round-two defeat to France in Paris.
Joe Schmidt’s men began with a draw with Wales before consecutive away defeats to France and England left their title defence in ruins.
The back-to-back champions managed to add a 35-25 win over the Dark Blues to a big victory over Italy last week but the captain told RTÉ Sport that the result in Paris doesn't sit well.
“Look, it has been frustrating,” said the Ulster hooker.
“It was a good start in terms of performance, not the result, the draw [against Wales], that we wanted.
“Look, it has been frustrating"
“I think when we look back the France game will be very, very frustrating for us. That was the one game where we lost it, we very much feel we lost that one.
“[Against] England, I think there were [positive] moments we could pick out.
“But all in all, to finish with two wins when we were under pressure, backs against the wall and the way we went about finishing the tournament off, you’ve got to be pleased.
“Obviously, we don’t settle for mid-table, we don’t settle for [being] also-rans but with where we were after the England game, I think the boys showed a lot of character and courage to stand up and play with the confidence and conviction that we did in the last two games.”
