Kidney dejected as Ireland crumble under England pressure

Ireland coach Declan Kidney admitted his players were deflated after the 30-9 defeat by England in the Six Nations.

"We are disappointed for everybody, for our supporters. It is St Patrick's Day and we wanted to represent them to the best of our ability," said Kidney.

"But we fell shy of that today and that is something we are not proud of.

"In the Wales game it was a thin line but today were were well and comprehensively beaten and we have to put our hands up for that."

Kidney added: "Overall, we are disappointed to just get the two wins and a draw.

"Rugby is a simple game. If your scrum is in trouble, you are not going to have a good day."

Ireland captain Rory Best said the scrum was where the game had been lost.

"We did not get a platform for our backs," he admitted.

"You are not going to win an international when your scrum is under that sort of pressure.

"That second half performance simply was not us. This team has more character than we showed in the second half.

"Our scrum was not good enough. It cost us the game and there is no point in trying to hide from that - they destroyed us up there."