Girvan Dempsey, David Wallace, Shane Horgan and Isaac Boss ran in tries to register Irelands biggest victory over the ailing world champions and revive their championship title bid.

Ashton said: Im very disappointed. I said how we made mistakes against Scotland and Italy and that wed need to go up two or three gears if we were to beat Ireland.

But we didnt do that and were punished by a side that was sharper than we were. They were more physical and fresher.

We were beaten all over the field, theres no doubt about that. We knew it would be a difficult game but hoped to gain parity or dominance in some areas of the pitch.

But we were stuffed and we have to take it on the chin. We were outplayed by the better side.

They were better up front. I thought their forwards played very well.

They scrummaged better than in previous games and when you have a line-out like theirs youre well on your way.

They looked a lot more physical than us and they were more physical in the collisions. I didnt see that result coming.

I dont feel embarrassed or humiliated. I feel theres a lot of work to do, but we already knew that.