Farrell hails ‘special day’ as Ireland secure record win against England
Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has hailed a “special day” after his side secured a record-breaking 42-21 Six Nations victory over England at Twickenham.
The visitors produced a ravenous performance to score five tries, sealing their biggest ever away win against the English and reigniting their title ambitions.
Farrell, who had been critical of the team following a heavy defeat by France a fortnight ago, expressed delight at the grit shown to deliver a vintage display.
“It is a special day, 100% is, to come here and perform like that,” said the Ireland boss.
“We are delighted with that, but even more so than that for us, I thought the respect the lads showed for one another out there was immense.”
“The respect they showed for the jersey and what it meant to them and respect for the Irish people really.”
He added: “To learn some lessons and grow as a group and a team was the overriding feeling for me.”
Doris looks for steep incline
Ireland captain Caelan Doris produced a standout performance, with his head coach noting it was one of his best games in some time.
The back-row forward believes the result will serve as a crucial benchmark for the squad moving forward.
“I spoke to you guys about Paris being a reference point and hopefully we will see a pretty steep incline in performances,” said Doris.
“I think this will now be a reference point that we look back on as a proper good performance that has given us a lot of belief.”
“It was an unbelievable atmosphere out there.”
‘Proper performance with no egos’
The emphatic result serves as a significant boost for Farrell, who had faced increasing scrutiny following recent losses to New Zealand, South Africa, and France.
He was particularly thrilled with how his players “got out of their own way” to execute a game plan defined by hunger and desire.
The head coach highlighted a specific moment where Stuart McCloskey chased down Marcus Smith late in the game as a telling indicator of the team’s spirit.
“What that accumulated to was some fantastic rugby that was broken-field stuff,” added Farrell.
“The telling parts of Stu McCloskey chasing Marcus back and being able to put him in touch just shows the fight.”
“The Rob Baloucoune one [turnover] on the far side shows the fight and the spirit these lads have got for one another and what it means to them.”
When asked if the visitors simply wanted the victory more than an England side wounding from a loss to Scotland, Farrell suggested his team were “hunting people down” throughout.
“It is one thing getting a good start and getting the bonus point but how we kick-chased, how we kept hunting down the breakdown, all that type of stuff shows that that is a proper performance where there are no egos.”