The fine margins of defeat in Twickenham were the story to be told and dissected in the wake of yesterday’s 3 point defeat for Ireland at the hands of England. Turnovers, knock ons, forward passes and wayward kicks were blemishes that became defining features for both sides, with Ireland paying for being the marginally worse offenders in a game of brutal physicality and excellent defensive work.

As Paul O’Connell spoke after the game the memories of the battle were still fresh and forming, but the sense of regret and missed opportunity was at the centre of his thoughts. In a game as finely balanced as this - with just 5 scores between two sides determined to attack at maximum intensity - to surrender a 7 point lead, and all that went with it, in the space of a few minutes was a bitter fact to confront.

“We put ourselves in a fairly good position. If you were away from home after 50 minutes and you offered to me to be 10-3 up or whatever it was, after 50 minutes I would have been very happy with it. We probably needed to drive that home then. They got a few very good turnovers off the ground, we probably didn’t exit from our own half off one or two of the kick receipts like we would have wanted to, and you know those things can cost you the game,” O’Connell told the BBC shortly after the game.

Ireland had gone in at the break 3-0 down, but returned with a renewed vitality and ferocity from the pack, and a seeming marginalisation of the errors of the first 40 minutes, had 10 points on the board within 10 minutes. With so little on offer for either side in the first 50, that might have been enough of a platform to close out the final 30. Simple errors, however, soon surrendered that lead to an Owen Farrell penalty and a Danny Care try. O’Connell spoke afterwards of Ireland’s failure to make that early second half dominance count, with a chance to break the previously iron English spirit with a sustained assault.

“I think we would have been really happy with what we did after half time; the way we came out, the way we executed a few plays really well, the way we scrimmaged, the way we mauled, you know you’d be very happy with that period but we probably needed to drive on for another five, ten minutes and take their belief away, but unfortunately we had a few errors which brought them back into the game and you know once they got a lead then their belief was up and it was a tough struggle for us then,” O’Connell said.

Joe Schmidt’s exact manner of coaching and his attention to detail is one of his strongest features, and it was the sloppiness of some of Ireland’s play – with the fine points not able to match the exceptional effort offered – that starkly contrasted with Ireland’s play in recent games under Schmidt.

“I felt we had a lot of ball and we didn’t execute probably as well as we would have liked and accurately as Joe would have liked us to do, which is a big part of his coaching philosophy is being able to execute plays under pressure with accuracy and we probably didn’t do that in the first half” O’Connell said.

“We had plenty of plays, plenty of opportunities, but that’s the way it is in tight games. You know I think we marshalled them fairly well at times, they had some good ball and I think we defended well and forced turnovers, same as they did.”

“It was always going to be a very tight game, it’s just a shame we didn’t keep the foot on the throttle after that good period when we came out after half time, “ O’Connell added.

Despite the loss the chance of a Six Nations championship is still very real, with a trip to Pari likely to present a chance to wrap up the title on points difference. For O’Connell, the team will need no motivation to pick themselves up and take on that challenge.

“There’ll be no problem picking guys up. I think guys are really enjoying working under Joe and trying to improve under Joe. Unfortunately days like this are probably the ones you learn the most” O’Connell said.

“We’re probably going to have a tough few days now in the video room with Joe , but that’s part of it.

“I think the guys are looking forward to getting back to the Aviva and playing against Italy and trying to put in a really good performance.”