Ireland head coach Andy Farrell said his players “showed respect for each other and the jersey” as he hailed Saturday’s 42-21 Six Nations win over England as a “special day”.
A ravenous and resurgent Irish side scored five tries to secure their biggest away win over England and reignite their title ambitions.
And Farrell, who was critical of his side following their 36-14 loss to France a fortnight ago, was delighted with the graft his players put in to deliver a vintage Irish display.
“It’s a special day, 100% is, to come here and perform like that,” said Farrell.
“We’re 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. To learn some lessons and grow as a group and a team was the overriding feeling for me.”
Ireland skipper Caelan Doris, who Farrell said had his “one of his best games in a while”, echoed the coach’s comments.
“It’s big,” Doris said when asked what Saturday’s display will do for Ireland’s belief.
“I spoke to you guys about Paris being a reference point and hopefully we’ll see a pretty steep incline in 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.
“It was an unbelievable atmosphere out there. You talk about inspiring the nation and getting the Irish people behind us… Hopefully that brought people here and back at home a bit of joy today.”
