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Sunday, 21 October, 2001, 07:50 GMT 08:50 UK
Woodward: I'm sorry
England's dejected players face up to defeat
Clive Woodward has apologised to England rugby fans, after his side's 20-14 defeat against Ireland.
Saturday's result meant England missed out on the Grand Slam for the third year in the row, despite securing the Six Nations trophy. "It's happened again," said Woodward, "and we deserved to lose. "I can't believe how many errors we made. The line-out was a disaster in the first half and we never recovered.
"We'll try to take some positives from the game but it will be very difficult.
"It's massively disappointing, especially for the players. All we can say is sorry." Ireland's captain and try-scoring hero Keith Wood paid tribute to his side's performance. "It was great team-work all the way through," he said, before joking, "The try was very selfish, typical of me. "I've never scored against England before but the good work of other players made it possible for me.
"The fact that we stopped their Grand Slam is secondary to our performance for me." Centre Brian O'Driscoll was understandably delighted with the win, the first time Ireland have beaten England since 1994. "It's an incredible feeling," he said. "Injury time seemed to go on forever and we were under so much pressure in the second half. "It was very close but we came out alright. Woody's try gave us a real boost and really set the tone for us." Threw it away Centre Mike Catt admitted that Ireland's desire had overwhelmed England. "They wanted it more than we did," he said. "We came under a lot of pressure and we threw it away. You can't play without the ball. "Humphries kicked the ball very well in the first half and all credit must do to Ireland. "There was nothing Clive Woodward could do about it - it was purely down to us players."
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