Andy Farrell hails Ireland progress after record win over England in Six Nations rugby clash

LONDON – Ireland coach Andy Farrell praised his side’s fighting spirit in their 42-21 demolition of England on Feb 21, hailing his team’s progress after a disappointing start to their Six Nations campaign.

His players were outclassed by title favourites France in Paris in the opening game and struggled past Italy last weekend, leaving Ireland fans travelling to London in hope rather than expectation. Yet, they ended up witnessing Ireland’s biggest win at Twickenham.

In the 2024 tournament, a wounded England responded to a defeat by Scotland at Murrayfield with a narrow win over Ireland, but this time round the visitors raced into an early 22-point lead to ensure history did not repeat itself.

Jamison Gibson-Park, Robert Baloucoune and Tommy O’Brien scored Ireland’s tries.

“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 told reporters.

“There’s a lesson to be learnt there for us, but more so the lesson from Paris (earlier in February)... 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.”

England’s faint hopes were ended by Dan Sheehan’s try shortly after the restart, though Ireland were relentless throughout the second half even with the contest effectively over. Jamie Osborne’s 70th-minute try was proof of this.

“We’re such a hungry group. We believe in ourselves a lot,” Sheehan told ITV. “That performance right there is right up there with one of the best we’ve had.”

“It looked like we were hunting people down throughout the game,” Farrell added.

“It’s one thing going up with a good start and gaining the bonus point... 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 are no egos.”

“Everyone’s just going for it together and trying to gain a little bit more respect for one another,” he added.

Farrell, though, declined to comment on his side’s chances of winning the title, which they may have to do without winger James Lowe who went off injured in the first half.

“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,” he said.

“What will be will be, we just need to move on after this.”

England’s Ellis Genge, meanwhile, said the loss had exposed “scar tissue”, with the prop conceding the team had “believed the hype too much”.

Steve Borthwick’s men had started the tournament with a 48-7 rout of Wales. But hopes of a Grand Slam were dashed by the 31-20 loss to Scotland at Murrayfield on Feb 14 that ended a 12-game winning streak.

Said Genge: “It opened up scar tissue from last week, we have to be better at managing that period and stop turning the ball over.

“It’s brutal, professional sport, because if you get five per cent wrong, it’s gone. We probably believed the hype from the first week too much. We can’t let the noise in now.”

England crossed the line via Fraser Dingwall, Ollie Lawrence and Sam Underhill but ultimately suffered their first loss at Twickenham since a November 2024 defeat by world champions South Africa.

In the later tie, Wales let a 12-point half-time lead slip in a 26-23 home defeat by Scotland.

The Welsh had led all the way from the 10th minute till George Turner crossed the line for the Scots five minutes from time.

Scotland’s other tries came via Kyle Steyn, Finn Russell and Darcy Graham, while Rhys Carre and Josh Adams scored the hosts’ first-half tries. REUTERS, AFP