Steve Borthwick has blamed England’s continuing poor results on his team’s relative lack of experience but says he was proud of his players for fighting back to earn a late losing bonus point. England have been beaten in seven of their last nine Tests and must now face an in-form France at Twickenham on Saturday.

From 10-5 up at half-time, England found themselves 27-10 down before two late tries put a gloss on the final scoreline. Once again the opposing bench had significantly more second-half impact and, having started promisingly, Borthwick’s side proved unable to last the pace.

“Ireland are a world class team who have been world class for so long,” said Borthwick. “That experience told in the third quarter. I thought tactically they played really well and that allowed them to get the scoreboard pressure that we couldn’t claw back.

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“If you look at today’s game, you see two different teams. You see an Ireland team that has been together for such a huge amount of time and an England team that has been together for six months and has half their number of caps.”

“I was looking at the teams beforehand and I think on that bench they had almost as many caps as we have in our whole 23. Ultimately we came up short and I’m really disappointed because I thought we could come here and win this game. You certainly saw a belief in the players that they could come here and win the game. We’ll ensure we’re a better team next week against France.”

The former England head coach Stuart Lancaster has left Racing 92 with immediate effect. Lancaster’s 18-month spell with the Paris club has ended after they failed to qualify for the knockout phase of the Champions Cup, finishing second from bottom in their pool. They have also struggled domestically and sit 12th in the Top 14, just two points above the relegation zone. Owen Farrell joined the club last summer but has been affected by a groin injury, hampering his ability to contribute to their season. PA Media

Borthwick also insisted his side are making progress, despite what their results might suggest. “I’m very proud of the way the players attacked the game in the first half and came back in the final quarter to gain a bonus point. I think you’ve seen a team that is developing how they want to move the ball and how they want to attack. You saw a team that works exceptionally hard for each other. It is a team that wants to play aggressively with the ball and I think we took a step forward in that attack. The defence has [also] improved.”

England’s captain, Maro Itoje, felt similarly. “There were large parts of our game which we took a step forward. The energy we had on the field, the vibrancy to our attack, the way the guys were attacking and flooding through holes, I thought was admirable but of course there are things for us to learn and get better at.”

Ireland’s captain Caelan Doris was suitably encouraged by his team’s opening result. “Momentum is obviously huge in this competition. You can’t win it in the first round but you can lose it or dampen your chances quite a bit. I think we showed what we are capable of at times, definitely.”