When Brian O’Driscoll dotted down at the start of the second half, Wales were 30-3 down at the Millennium Stadium after first-half scores from Ireland winger Simon Zebo and Cian Healy as well as 15 points from the boot of Jonny Sexton.

Wales roused themselves however and pinned Ireland back, responding with tries from Alex Cuthbert, Leigh Halfpenny and replacement prop Craig Mitchell.

It was not enough to avoid an eighth straight defeat however, as Ireland prevailed 30-22, and Wales will now travel to France, looking to get their campaign up and running.

And Howley admitted Wales must get out of the blocks quicker in Paris.

"This group of players will keep playing and they showed great character," he said.

"We didn't start well, you need a foothold in the game.

"You can't give any international side the space and time on the ball which we gave in the first 20 minutes.

"It was a game of contrasting halves; I thought the first 20 minutes was key in terms of a couple of turnovers.

"We showed great character and resilience second half to come back into it, but we probably left three or four tries out there as well.

"We were down on possession, down on territory and we kept on giving Ireland the opportunity to come back at us. So that's an area of concern and an area we need to focus on and work on."