AFTER having watched England end another sub-standard Six Nations campaign with their third straight defeat on Saturday night, an irate Twickenham crowd were moved to claim that nobody had emerged from this season's championship with any credit.

An understandable argument, but a wrong one. Ensconced in his director of football office at Southampton, Sir Clive Woodward must be having a wry smile at the tattered state of English rugby. After all, it is not as though he did not see it coming.

When Woodward resigned in the wake of 2003's World Cup success he warned that England would be toppled from their perch unless they gained greater control over the management and development of their elite players.

His warnings went unheeded and, since then, his successor, Andy Robinson, has been at one end of an unseemly tug-of-war being waged between club and country. With his players caught in the middle, it is ultimately to the benefit of neither.

Later this week, Robinson will be summoned to a meeting with Rugby Football Union chief executive Francis Baron in which he will be asked to account for England's dramatic fall from grace.

Like Woodward before him, he will cite player burn-out and inadequate preparation as the two critical factors. Central contracts will be raised as a possible solution but, with Premiership chairmen understandably keen to protect their own private enterprises, a solution to this seemingly interminable struggle remains as far away as ever. On the evidence of Saturday's defeat, so does a return to England's swaggering best.

"We are not playing on a level playing field any more," said a clearly infuriated Robinson, who confirmed his commitment to honouring the contract that will see England through to next year's World Cup.

"All the other teams have stepped up since 2003 - we've stayed in the same position.

"All I am asking is for these players to be given the opportunity to be at their best, both physically and mentally, when they turn up to play for England. At the moment, that is not happening.

"Watching the players go back to play for their clubs is simply not conducive to winning the Six Nations Championship."

England's chances of success in this season's tournament disappeared when they failed to breach a resolute Scottish defence at Murrayfield last month.

That the resultant 18-12 defeat was preceded by a weekend in which the visiting players were asked to perform for their club sides is a fact not lost on Robinson.

"That Scotland game is a good example," said the coach. "We had built some momentum going into that game but, the weekend before it, the players disappeared off to their clubs and played in some very intensive matches.

"Twelve of the Scottish players didn't play the weekend before - that's hardly a help. When you analyse our inability to execute our chances against Scotland, that situation has to be a factor.

"This isn't about me, because I'm imploring people to make changes whether I'm in charge or somebody else is. The problem isn't going to go away. You have to have the structure right if you want England to play at their best and, at the moment, that isn't the case."

The same could be said, though, of the structure of England's play. The French players are also at the beck and call of their clubs and they woke up this morning as Six Nations champions.

For all of Robinson's opprobrium, England did not lose Saturday's game because their players were tired. They lost because, with less than two minutes left, Ireland's backs combined to produce the one move of genuine class in a game that was frenetic but technically flawed.

Just like in Edinburgh, England were unable to convert their possession into points, despite an impressive international debut from fly-half Andy Goode and a typically belligerent display from a beefed-up pack.

How the home side could have done with a dose of Mathew Tait's Melbourne magic.

"There will be changes for the (summer) tour of Australia," said Robinson, although his acknowledgement of playing deficiencies did not last for long.

"Some of the senior players are in need of a rest," he added in case anyone had lost track of the point he was trying to make.

Perhaps he was talking about a change of luck rather than an alteration of personnel.

For all of the visitors' verve at the weekend, the luck of the Irish was a pretty decisive factor in the end.

Leading 5-0 thanks to Jamie Noon's second-minute try - the Newcastle centre crossed in the left-hand corner after a crisp pass from Goode - England's players were fuming when Shane Horgan was allowed to level the scores five minutes later.

Brian O'Driscoll's aimless crossfield kick looked innocuous enough but, even after Ben Cohen slipped and made an absolute mess of retrieving it as he drifted into full-back mode, the home side looked to have been let off the hook when Horgan stepped into touch.

"I was absolutely staggered when it wasn't given," said Robinson. Thanks to the instant replays on the video screens, he was hardly alone.

With Ireland dominating the line-out and the back row, successive Ronan O'Gara penalties opened up a six-point gap that Goode was able to trim to three with his first success from four attempts shortly before half-time.

The pair traded penalties again after the re-start, before England's mounting pressure finally paid in the 52nd minute. That their second try of the game was scored by a lock - Steve Borthwick crashing over after a fine dummy run from Joe Worsley - probably said more about their lack of midfield creativity than any statistical analysis of their persistent inability to cross the gain-line.

Not that the controversy was finished. With Ireland's back-line play becoming increasingly fraught, O'Gara sent a wicked spiralling kick towards the corner.

Cohen was penalised for entering the field of play as he threw the ball to himself - a harsh and inaccurate decision - and England's play unravelled from there.

Hooker Lee Mears' long throw got nowhere near its intended target, Lewis Moody, and the hugely impressive Denis Leamy rounded off his juggling act by dropping over the line.

It didn't look like that would matter when Goode converted the second of two quickfire penalties with just five minutes left, but Ireland's much-vaunted backline had one more trick up its sleeve.

O'Driscoll burst into life as he raced onto O'Gara's chip and, while Moody hauled down Horgan with the try-line in sight, he was unable to repeat his heroics when the ball was recycled to the winger for a second time