ENGLAND BOSS STEVE Borthwick and his Ireland counterpart Andy Farrell have played down their exchange at half time of England’s 23-22 win over Ireland.
The two head coaches were seen trading words as they headed for the tunnel at the interval of England’s impressive Six Nations win.
Neither coach was willing to reveal what they were discussing during that exchange.
“I just said, ‘How are you doing, Steve? Nice to see you again, not spoke to you for a long time,’” joked Farrell after Ireland’s defeat.
“It’s all good.”
Borthwick also played down the exchange and highlighted his respect for Farrell.
“It’s absolutely fine,” said Borthwick.
“Andy and I have known each other for a long time. We played alongside each other for England and both represented England at the 2007 World Cup so we go back a long way. What he has done with that Ireland team is incredible, very special, they are an incredible team and I thought today was a very special Test match.
“It’s between Andy and I. I know people want to read things into that but Andy and I have a good relationship, we were co-captains together at Saracens as players. We coached together on the Lions in 2017 and I have incredible respect for what he has done with that team.”
Borthwick was proud of his English players and though he said the team still has a long way to go, he labelled this win over Ireland as an important step forward.
England had come under fire for their performance in defeat to Scotland two weekends ago but Borthwick was delighted with the response.
“There was a lot of criticism of our attack and not many teams go up against Ireland and score three tries,” said Borthwick, while also praising his players’ physicality and breakdown work.
This victory means England have won more than two games in a Six Nations for the first time since the 2020 championship, with the possibility of a fourth next weekend when they face France in Lyon.
It took a last-minute drop goal from replacement out-half Marcus Smith to grab the win against Ireland, with the Harlequins out-half slotting his shot with penalty advantage playing.
“I’ll say three things,” said Borthwick of the English victory.
“One is that the intensity that players had from the first minute to the last minute, that was a step forward. I think that’s going to become something a hallmark of this team – the intensity with which they play.
“The second thing is tactically in the middle of the game, Ireland adjusted what they did tactically in the middle of the game, that middle third. The players needed to attend to that on the grass. They did that really, really well. They changed a little bit from how we intended to play. Ireland were very smart in what they did and it needed a big adjustment from our team led by Jamie [George, the captain].
“The third thing, and I’ve used this expression a number of times, and that’s finding a way to win. This is Test rugby and you’ve got to find a way to win. We’ll improve as a team, we’ll be better. But fundamentally it’s about finding yourselves in situations where you have to find a way to win.
“That’s important and the team did that again tonight.”
Many in the English media had called for Borthwick’s side to play a more entertaining style of rugby and the head coach felt they had done that against Ireland.
“I’d say the noise at the end says ‘yes.’”
