• Six Nations

Wilkinson critical of his performance against Ireland

Jonny Wilkinson was successful with three of six kicks against Ireland © Getty Images

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England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson admitted he was some way from his best following another mixed display against Ireland in their Six Nations showdown at Twickenham.

Martin Johnson's side saw their Grand Slam dream shattered by a ruthless Irish side who outscored the hosts three tries to one on their way to a deserved 20-16 victory. Wilkinson's boot was a key weapon for England and he looked to have put his side on course for their third successive victory with a late drop goal but in the end he was left to rue some costly errors.

"It's disappointing. It's a hell of a feeling actually," said Wilkinson. "I've not felt like this for a long time. They hurt more and more. It feels like we've taken a big bang."

A series of missed kicks and an uncharacteristic defensive lapse undid much of Wilkinson's good work and he was happy to accept responsibility for Tommy Bowe's second try that put the visitors on course for victory.

"I'm happy to do that. I don't necessarily choose to because it keeps you awake a bit but it's what drives you the next day to get up in the morning a bit earlier than most and get back on track," he said. "I'm aways critical. I'd be critical of my positional play for three-quarters of that match. I pride myself on being defensively reliable and it's definitely something I have to improve."

The game did not begin well for Wilkinson with a mis-hit kick off but again he took the flak in his stride. "About seven or eight years ago I remember coming to a press conference and saying I started the game with the world's worst kick-off. I can safely say I have topped that. I was looking to get under the ball for a slightly shorter kick-off. It was a bad kick-off call. Just one of those things. It strengthens you as a person."

Despite their latest setback, Wilkinson remains convinced that the team is making progress. "We know we are so close," said Wilkinson. "If we hit the levels we know we can we'll be in a good place. I wanted to see guys like Mathew Tait and Ugo Monye and Delon Armitage with the ball in their hands as often as possible. I've been in good squads before in all parts of the world and I get a good feeling about this one," he said. "You start to know that together you can do this. We believed the whole way through that game we were going to do it.

"Right now it's hurting. I've felt that bad before in games. We lost playing for Toulon with the video ref in the last minute against Montpellier. They hit you hard, but right now it's because of spending a lot of time with these guys in camp. I know what winning that game could have done for us. It's a big fall when you lose it in the last minutes."

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