The Cardiff flanker admitted the last fortnight had not made for ideal preparation - but he praised the impact caretaker coach Scott Johnson made during his first week in sole charge.

Johnson has not made any radical changes to the week's preparation, but Williams was impressed by the way he managed to keep the players' minds focused on the job in hand.

''Events of the last week have not affected us that badly because we have done well in focusing on the game, but I have to say it has not been ideal,'' said Williams.

''The week's training was the best we have had for a year.''

But Wales failed to take that form from the training park onto a blustery and bitterly cold Lansdowne Road.

Inspired by Stephen Jones, they started like a train - winger Mark Jones scored Wales' only points with a try in the corner - but once the fly-half limped off with a dead leg after 20 minutes Ireland assumed full control.

David Wallace, Shane Horgan and Peter Stringer scored the tries and Ronan O'Gara booted 16 points as Ireland kept their championship aspirations alive.

Wales' title defence may realistically now be over - but Williams is confident they can recover from this setback and go on to finish the tournament with a flourish in back-to-back games at the Millennium Stadium against Italy and France.

''It will be tough in the final two games; for a start Italy are obviously an improving team who will cause anyone problems,'' said Williams.

''But if we could finish with two wins - and return three out of five for the championship - I don't think that will be a bad effort considering everything that has happened to us in the last couple of months.

''There are always going to be some people who want to knock us down but I don't think anyone could knock us for effort. It is just that we were not good enough.

''We have a fortnight to put things right and we have the crowd behind us.

''That home factor has brought us through the last 18 months and allowed to us get some
of our best wins and we hope that will continue.''