Noon: No time to lick wounds

Jamie Noon has spoken of the frustration felt by England after their loss to Ireland.

Jamie Noon has spoken of the frustration felt by the England squad after they ended this year's Six Nations in a disappointing fourth place.

The centre scored early in England's eventual 28-24 Twickenham defeat by Ireland, a result that handed the visitors their second Triple Crown in three seasons.

But England were left smarting after two questionable decisions by touch judges Rob Dickson and Nigel Owens.

Dickson failed to raise his flag when, after Shane Horgan had kicked past his tardy opposite number Ben Cohen and the ball touched the line, the winger scored his and Ireland's first try.

And mid-way through the second half, Owens called Cohen back after he took a quick throw in to himself, claiming he was infield as opposed to being behind the touchline.

Ireland scored from the resulting lineout and, with Horgan's late second try, England lost the lead for the third time in the match.

But, while feeling a sense of frustration at the outcome, Noon refused to bracket the loss alongside earlier defeats at the hands of Scotland and new Six Nations champions France.

"We made improvements, definitely, and we played most of the rugby, but we have come away with nothing," said Noon, who was replaced after 27 minutes because of a head wound.

"You have got to bite your tongue, really. The players were very disappointed at a couple of decisions they thought they should have received, but the referee (Welshman Nigel Whitehouse) has not given them.

"The feeling is one of frustration. Ireland were struggling at time, and they had to work very hard for the win.

"It just goes to show we've got a good strong squad of players - it is just a matter of turning up and limiting the number of mistakes we are making.

"Finishing fourth in the championship for England is very disappointing, but we haven't got time to sit around licking our wounds."