Ireland head coach Declan Kidney admitted that both he and his players have much soul-searching to do after Saturday's shock defeat by Scotland.
The Irish had been overwhelming favourites to claim a victory which would have clinched a fifth Triple Crown in seven seasons as well as acting as a perfect parting gift to Croke Park on their final appearance at the home of Gaelic Games.
However, Dan Parks kicked Scotland to a shock win in Dublin, thus leaving Kidney and his players filled with regret.
"We have to give Scotland credit for playing a good game and keeping the scoreboard ticking over," the former Munster boss said.
"We didn't have our greatest day. We made errors and we've said all along that unless you're right on top of your game any team in this competition can beat you.
"We congratulate Scotland and the way they played wasn't a complete shock to us, we saw it coming.
"But we will take a hard look at ourselves. We tried things in the first half and made a few errors. It's extremely disappointing.
"Days like this are going to happen. It's so disappointing - the venue, the result, everything that was at stake.
"If we look at the Six Nations we feel there's more in us. A lot of the things that went wrong are within our control to rectify."
Meanwhile, lock Paul O'Connell admitted that Ireland's record of three wins from five games was difficult to take for a side which had won the Grand Slam 12 months ago.
"It's been a disappointing championship. Two defeats is more than we wanted at the start," said the Lions captain.
"We're an excellent side and we want to win things. Unfortunately now we're coming away empty handed so we're disappointed with the way it's gone."