Caretaker coach Scott Johnson refused to blame the upheaval that has hit Welsh rugby in the last fortnight for Sunday's 31-5 RBS Six Nations Championship defeat by Ireland at Lansdowne Road.

The defeat effectively ends Wales' reign as Six Nations champions and occurred in front of a backdrop of chaos and confusion in Welsh rugby.

Grand Slam-winning coach Mike Ruddock quit in controversial circumstances on Valentine's night and captain Gareth Thomas is out for the rest of the championship with a damaged artery in his neck.

"The goings on over the last couple of weeks have not been of concern to me or the team," said Johnson. "Our primary focus has been on the game. It is out of our hands and will never come into our hands and nor will it be an excuse. Other people can worry about that. We don't make excuses."

Wales had started boldly and, inspired by outside half Stephen Jones, took an early lead through a Mark Jones try.

But Wales lost their momentum when Stephen Jones limped off with a dead leg after 19 minutes to be replaced by Gavin Henson and Ireland took maximum advantage.

David Wallace, Shane Horgan and Peter Stringer scored tries and Ronan O'Gara booted 16 points.

"Stephen would have been the last bloke we would have wanted to replace after 20 minutes," admitted Johnson.

"In that time we showed real endeavour and good completion skills. But we let ourselves down after that, our kicking out of hand and our execution went against us.

"We put ourselves under pressure. We have got to be right to play our game and clearly in the second half we didn't do that."

Henson was named on the bench despite only playing four games in a season disrupted by injury and then suspension.

With Wales missing so many key backs - Thomas, Shane Williams, Ceri Sweeney, Tom Shanklin and Kevin Morgan - Johnson felt he had little choice but to include Henson but he rued the need to introduce him so early.

"You want versatility on the bench and we need coverage in couple of positions. We didn't have the cover we normally have and Gav fits that bill," said Johnson. The intention was not to play him for as long, but sometimes it doesn't turn out that way. It was not perfect but we have to accept that."