Steve Borthwick was left “disappointed” after England kicked off their Six Nations campaign with a defeat by Ireland - but vowed they would bounce back against France next week.
England were beaten 27-22 in Dublin after a second-half blitz from the hosts saw them secure a bonus-point win.
Borthwick’s side had started well and led 10-5 at half-time, thanks in part to a brilliant defensive display.
But Ireland roared back in the second half and scored 22 unanswered points, before late tries from Tom Curry and Tommy Freeman snatched England a losing bonus point.
England have now won just two of their last nine games, losing six of seven, but Borthwick insists they will pick themselves up to host favourites France - who demolished sorry Wales 43-0 in Paris on Friday night - next week.
“I was looking at and this was always going to be a great test for us and ultimately we came up short and I am really disappointed we came up short,” said Borthwick.
“I thought we could come here and win this game. I think our players gave that a good go. You certainly saw a belief in the players that they could come here and win the game.
“We didn’t, so we will ensure that we are a better team next week against France back at Twickenham, back at Allianz Stadium.
“If you look at today’s game, you saw two different teams. You see an Ireland team that has been together such a huge time, nearly 1,200 caps.
“We want to win every game and we didn’t today, so we are disappointed with that. We play France next week and we are looking forward to being back in front of our supporters.”
England were led against Ireland for the first time by Maro Itoje, who has replaced Jamie George as captain.
Itoje praised his side’s effort in Dublin and believes they will build from the positive parts of the defeat.
“We pretty much just said: ‘Look, the first half was really good and in the second half we didn’t quite execute the game plan in terms of field position and territory’,” he said.
“But, I am proud of the way the boys fought to the very end. We fought to get the losing bonus point at the end and that’s definitely admirable.
“I think it is what it is. Our role is to learn from it and build and get better. There were large parts of our game which I think took a step forward today.
“The energy we had on the field, the vibrancy we had to our attack, the way the guys were flooding through holes, I thought was very admirable.”
