IRELAND V ENGLAND PLAYER QUOTES:ANDREW TRIMBLE, Rob Kearney and Luke Fitzgerald walked towards the television cameras, microphones and notebooks a little over an hour after Ireland's Six Nations ambitions had unravelled one final time. The three youngest members of the Ireland team thumped at Twickenham were invited to hypothesise about the continuing malaise that afflicts the national team.

Only Trimble has enough game time in the Test arena (24 caps) to lend a certain gravitas to his observations, but it should be noted he is still just 23 years of age. On a difficult afternoon he spoke with striking candour on the mental issues that have compromised physical endeavour.

"It's very difficult to just become confident. I think your confidence is built upon performances and results and if you haven't got those to look back on then it's very difficult to have that. It takes someone very strong-minded to continue to be confident, to continue to be positive, to want the ball and to back themselves (when things aren't going well).

"That's something I found very difficult. If you haven't made a line break in a few weeks, it's very difficult to back yourself and be assured you are as good as you should be. We have to be mentally tougher, (focus) on how good we can be and rely on that.

"As Ronan (O'Gara) highlighted, it's difficult to get it (the standard of play) back there where it needs to be when your confidence is low. Whatever the reason is . . . if I knew it then I would be coaching Ireland."

Injuries have necessitated that players of Trimble's ilk assume greater responsibility, a process not without occasional pitfalls and setbacks. The Ulster and Ireland centre admitted: "What's been expected of me is a lot more (than in the past). Ronan and Shane (Horgan) put me under pressure to be able to stand up and be a leader of a back line. Maybe that's not something that comes naturally to me but it is something I am trying to develop. I want to become a leader; I want to become a go-to player (but) I don't think I am where I want to be yet."

The genesis of Ireland's failure against England can be traced to a litany of errors, frustratingly often within the shadow of the home side's posts. Trimble admitted: "Unfortunately we just turned over the ball in crucial areas of the pitch. We had the right game plan but unfortunately we dropped the ball over nine times in their 22. You can't do that; you can't expect to win international Test games if that happens."

He was also keen to offer support to the beleaguered Eddie O'Sullivan, pointing out the Irish coach still retained the support of the players.

"Yeah, (we are behind him) 100 per cent. People are going to criticise Eddie after today's performance but it is not Eddie's fault that we dropped balls; it's not Eddie's fault that we got isolated and turned ball over.

"I think we had the correct game plan but when it looked like we were going to score a try or certainly come close then we knocked the ball on and that's our fault.

"We have to hold up our hands and accept responsibility," Trimble contended before stressing the Irish players should accept responsibility for Saturday's defeat.

It was a refrain common to the thoughts of all three players as was the issue of a team long on work-ethic but short on confidence. Kearney, still 21, at least for another 11 days, found little solace in his sharply taken try, personal satisfaction overshadowed by the nature of the defeat.

"It's a rotten feeling losing, especially by that margin and in Twickenham; it's always that bit harder to take. It's hugely disappointing. We got out of the blocks really well and got to 10-nil up. We gave away nine turnovers in their 22 which is criminal. It can't be done at this level. A lot of our final passes didn't go to hand and I think we probably didn't gel as well as we would have liked."

He also addressed the confidence issue.

"You only have to look at how many players reached their full potential on the day. Probably nobody did. When you look at it from that aspect you can put it down to a lack of confidence individually. I can only give my experience of it as I am new into the scene. Two out of five wins is disappointing. This has been a huge learning curve for me."

It's been a tough campaign for Ireland's tyros, a measure of their character as much as ability. On the evidence of performance it seems they have oodles of both.