Ireland coach Andy Farrell praises his team for writing themselves into history after winning back-to-back Six Nations titles and admits surviving night of tension against Scotland made achievement even sweeter
- Ireland retained their Six Nations title after battling Scotland 17-13
- Andy Farrell says his side wrote themselves into history by lifting the trophy
- Farrell also admitted that the loss to England was his team’s most important game
Ireland coach Andy Farrell said his team wrote themselves into history by beating Scotland on a night of high tension to win back-to-back Six Nations titles.
Scotland kept things on edge for much of the match and Farrell said this made the 17-13 victory even sweeter.
“It was a real test match and if the trophy is on the line for both of us, that’s how it should be,” he said.
‘We are very happy. It’s about winning championships for us and that’s incredibly nice because it’s so hard to do.
“Everyone talks about Grand Slams, but to be in a position to win back-to-back Six Nations is a great feeling because it will go down in the history of Irish rugby.”
Andy Farrell praised Ireland after winning back-to-back Six Nations titles and making history
Ireland survived a night of immense tension against Scotland to emerge 17-13 victors in Dublin
Dan Sheehan and Andrew Porter (pictured) crossed before Ireland completed the closing stages
It would have been a historic first of consecutive Grand Slams for Ireland had they not lost to England, but Farrell said the defeat at Twickenham had the greatest value of any of the team’s matches in the tournament.
“It will be the best for us as a group because some of these guys have gotten used to winning,” he said.
‘I thought it was a fantastic campaign for this group. We picked up where we left off (after the World Cup) and we all know things change from year to year.”
Scotland captain Finn Russell said he believed his team is making progress despite winning just two games but must kick the habit of mentally wandering in matches.
“We have to become mentally stronger,” he said.