YOU KNOW IT’S been a good day at the office when Andy Farrell is being asked to rank the performance against the best days this Ireland team have delivered under his watch.
A sensational, comprehensive 42-21 victory saw Ireland roll back the years, playing wonderful attacking rugby and delivering a huge physical effort without the ball. Just two weeks on from the pessimism which followed a flat defeat in France, Ireland have ignited their championship and put themselves in contention for a potential Triple Crown. Achieving beyond that is out of their hands, but today, anything feels possible.
This was a great Ireland win, and Farrell knew the performance was one to be savoured.
“It’s a special day, 100% is to come here and perform like that. We’d obviously be delighted with that,” Farrell said.
“But even more so than that for us, I thought the respect that the lads show for one another out there on the field was immense. The respect that they show for the jersey and what it meant to them and the respect for the Irish people really. To learn some lessons and grow as a group, as a team, was the overriding feeling for me.”
“I spoke to you guys yesterday about Paris being a reference point where hopefully we’ll see a pretty steep incline in terms of performances. I think this will now be a reference point that we look back on as a proper good performance that’s given us a lot of belief.
“I’ve also mentioned to you guys that at the core of what we’re doing in training, in camp, there has been belief still, and I think you saw some of that through how we played today.
But yeah, it was just an unbelievable atmosphere out there. You talk about inspiring the nation and getting the Irish people behind us and hopefully that brought both the people here and at home a bit of joy today. We definitely enjoyed it.”
As good as some of the attacking rugby was, Farrell will be just as pleased with the defensive effort. The sight of Stuart McCloskey chasing down Marcus Smith – who was on as a replacement – and catching the Harlequins man summed up the relentless Irish workrate.
“It looked like we was hunting people down throughout the game,” Farrell said.
“You know, it’s one thing going up with a good start and getting the bonus point there as far as four tries is concerned, but how we kick-chased, how we kept hunting down the breakdown, all that type of stuff, it shows that that’s a proper performance where there’s no egos, that everyone’s just going for it together and trying to gain a little bit more respect off one another.”
Ireland weathered early England pressure before lighting Twickenham up with passages of electric play with ball-in-hand, having come to London determined to start with the right intent.
“Well, we got told we needed to dampen them down and rightly so because we were here two years ago when England lost to Scotland and they played outstandingly well and played some outstanding rugby on that day as well,” Farrell said.
“So there’s a lesson to be learned there for us but more so the lesson from Paris and us growing as a group is the key.
Farrell was delighted with the effort on both sides of the ball. Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
“It’s about doing the things that you promised each other that you were going to do and be free, get out of your own way and just let go and play the game that’s in front of you and have no distractions, and we did that, and what that accumulated to was some fantastic rugby that was broken field stuff.
“We got them on the break, made line breaks from deep in our own half and ground it out as well on their line.
“So it catered for a bit of everything really but I suppose the telling parts of Stu McCluskey chasing back Marcus and being able to put him in touch just shows the fight. And also the Rob Baloucoune one on the far side just shows the fight and the spirit that these lads have got for one another and what it means to them.”
A special day for this Ireland team, and a special day for those watching from the stands and back at home. Performing for the fans has been a constant, core message from Farrell, and he said delivering for those supporters in such stunning fashion made today all the more satisfying.
“Honestly, it does,” Farrell said.
“We just had the Taoiseach in the changing rooms there. We spoke as a group after that as well.
Related Reads
Watch: All of the highlights as Ireland storm to record victory in Twickenham
Ireland's outstanding Ulstermen shine on both sides of the ball
Farrell's Ireland hammer England on glorious day at Twickenham
“It is special. It is special. Honestly, I said it to the lads. I didn’t care whether we won or lost today, just whether we grew as a group because we know where we want to go to and it just so happens that to the people of Ireland that winning does matter, and it brings a bit of joy on everyone’s face so, for them, I mean the crowd, the people that turned up, it was immense.
“I hope everyone at home is just as proud as well.”
The only sore point of the day was the sight of James Lowe leaving the pitch in the first half with a suspected groin injury.
“It didn’t look too good. It is what it is. We said during the week that the balance of the squad as far as the subs and all that… It worked out pretty nicely in the end.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
14 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
'You talk about inspiring the nation, hopefully that brought people a bit of joy'
YOU KNOW IT’S been a good day at the office when Andy Farrell is being asked to rank the performance against the best days this Ireland team have delivered under his watch.
A sensational, comprehensive 42-21 victory saw Ireland roll back the years, playing wonderful attacking rugby and delivering a huge physical effort without the ball. Just two weeks on from the pessimism which followed a flat defeat in France, Ireland have ignited their championship and put themselves in contention for a potential Triple Crown. Achieving beyond that is out of their hands, but today, anything feels possible.
This was a great Ireland win, and Farrell knew the performance was one to be savoured.
“It’s a special day, 100% is to come here and perform like that. We’d obviously be delighted with that,” Farrell said.
“But even more so than that for us, I thought the respect that the lads show for one another out there on the field was immense. The respect that they show for the jersey and what it meant to them and the respect for the Irish people really. To learn some lessons and grow as a group, as a team, was the overriding feeling for me.”
“It’s big,” added Ireland captain Caelan Doris.
“I spoke to you guys yesterday about Paris being a reference point where hopefully we’ll see a pretty steep incline in terms of performances. I think this will now be a reference point that we look back on as a proper good performance that’s given us a lot of belief.
“I’ve also mentioned to you guys that at the core of what we’re doing in training, in camp, there has been belief still, and I think you saw some of that through how we played today.
As good as some of the attacking rugby was, Farrell will be just as pleased with the defensive effort. The sight of Stuart McCloskey chasing down Marcus Smith – who was on as a replacement – and catching the Harlequins man summed up the relentless Irish workrate.
“It looked like we was hunting people down throughout the game,” Farrell said.
“You know, it’s one thing going up with a good start and getting the bonus point there as far as four tries is concerned, but how we kick-chased, how we kept hunting down the breakdown, all that type of stuff, it shows that that’s a proper performance where there’s no egos, that everyone’s just going for it together and trying to gain a little bit more respect off one another.”
Ireland weathered early England pressure before lighting Twickenham up with passages of electric play with ball-in-hand, having come to London determined to start with the right intent.
“Well, we got told we needed to dampen them down and rightly so because we were here two years ago when England lost to Scotland and they played outstandingly well and played some outstanding rugby on that day as well,” Farrell said.
“So there’s a lesson to be learned there for us but more so the lesson from Paris and us growing as a group is the key.
“It’s about doing the things that you promised each other that you were going to do and be free, get out of your own way and just let go and play the game that’s in front of you and have no distractions, and we did that, and what that accumulated to was some fantastic rugby that was broken field stuff.
“We got them on the break, made line breaks from deep in our own half and ground it out as well on their line.
“So it catered for a bit of everything really but I suppose the telling parts of Stu McCluskey chasing back Marcus and being able to put him in touch just shows the fight. And also the Rob Baloucoune one on the far side just shows the fight and the spirit that these lads have got for one another and what it means to them.”
A special day for this Ireland team, and a special day for those watching from the stands and back at home. Performing for the fans has been a constant, core message from Farrell, and he said delivering for those supporters in such stunning fashion made today all the more satisfying.
“Honestly, it does,” Farrell said.
“We just had the Taoiseach in the changing rooms there. We spoke as a group after that as well.
“It is special. It is special. Honestly, I said it to the lads. I didn’t care whether we won or lost today, just whether we grew as a group because we know where we want to go to and it just so happens that to the people of Ireland that winning does matter, and it brings a bit of joy on everyone’s face so, for them, I mean the crowd, the people that turned up, it was immense.
“I hope everyone at home is just as proud as well.”
The only sore point of the day was the sight of James Lowe leaving the pitch in the first half with a suspected groin injury.
“It didn’t look too good. It is what it is. We said during the week that the balance of the squad as far as the subs and all that… It worked out pretty nicely in the end.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
andy farrell Caelan Doris Ireland Pride Rugby Six Nations 2026