Asked if he was frustrated by the outcome, Howard said: "There is a reasonable amount of frustration because we had good field position and a lot of possession, but I thought we were congested in attack at times. We scored four tries and we possibly could have scored one or two more. In the end it came down to the fact the London Irish defence did very well under pressure and they also kicked their kicks when we did not."
A try from Alesana Tuilagi with the last play of the game ensured both bonus points and Howard said: "Alex deserves a drink of some sort! He has been waiting for an opportunity and he took it today. I am really pleased for him. It is a disappointing result because we thought we had a genuine shot at four wins in this period. It is a setback but we have got a chance points-wise to mimic that - 16 points from the four games is still attainable. We will now aim for that."
Howard, who made 15 changes to the starting line-up after Friday's convincing win over Bristol, had bad news on the injury front, with young centre Tom Youngs the most serious. Teenager Youngs was forced out of his Guinness Premiership debut midway through the first half with a suspected broken bone in his left leg.
Ben Kay (shoulder) and Sam Vesty (calf) also failed to complete the 80 minutes and will provide a concern as Howard finalises his selection for the home game against Saracens on New Year's Day and then the trip to Newcastle Falcons on January 7.
