Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan shrugged off his disappointment after watching the Six Nations title slip from his side's grasp.
Ireland, who were bidding for their first Six Nations title and a first championship since 1985, scored eight tries in a 51-24 win over Italy in Rome.
The victory was not good enough to take the title from defending champions France, who all but retained their crown when a late try by Elvis Vermeulen sealed a 46-19 victory over Scotland in a later match at the Stade de France, giving them a better match points difference of four than the Irish.
"It's hard to take, but that's sport. We could wallow in self-pity now, but I don't think that would be the right thing to do," O'Sullivan told reporters. "We've won four out of five matches, played some great rugby and scored some great tries. We have to kick on from here."
Asked whether the scheduling of Ireland's match before the game in France had given the French an unfair advantage, O'Sullivan replied: "If we had known exactly how many points we needed to win, we could have set ourselves a target.
"But that wasn't the case. In that respect, France had an advantage. All we could do was go out there and try to score as many points as possible. From that point of view I've got nothing to hold against my team."
O'Sullivan also insisted he had no complaints about the decision of the video referee to award Vermeulen's last minute try.
"It was a tough call for him, but that's their job - to make these decisions. It certainly added a bit of drama to it," he said.
Italy coach Pierre Berbizier, meanwhile, was full of praise for the Irish.
"All we can do today is compliment a great Ireland side that played better rugby than us," he said. "Our strategy was to kick for goal, and that worked well in the first half. But we saw in the second half how tired some of our players were. Players like (number eight) Sergio Parisse and (centre) Mirco Bergamasco have been involved in the tournament right from the start and were not playing at their usual levels."
