Twickenham hosted an unforgettable evening of test match action, as England achieved a last-ditch victory over heavily favoured Ireland. Marcus Smith secured a dramatic victory, as he nailed an 80th minute drop goal through the uprights and sent the capacity crowd into a frenzy for the 23-22 victory.
The whirlwind swept through Twickenham and sent the jubilant England fans celebrating into the night. The prospect of the Six Nations title remains a possibility following this win, as Steve Borthwick’s men need to achieve an impressive victory against France, and bank on Scotland defeating Ireland in the Championship’s final round.
Head coach Borthwick and his captain Jamie George spoke to the media after the game, and discussed a phenomenal victory over the number two ranked side in the world. Here are the top five talking points from the press conference.
1. ENGLAND DIDN’T LISTEN TO THE DOUBTERS AFTER SCOTLAND DEFEAT
JAMIE GEORGE: “I am so proud. It is probably one of the most emotional and proud days of my career. The reason for that is there were doubters after that Scotland performance and probably rightly so but at the same time, internally we didn’t listen to the noise outside of what we knew was important.
“For us to got out there and do that to a team like Ireland, who for me are the best team in the world at the minute, is a really special day. We spoke a lot about making Twickenham a really tough place to come and play and I thought we did that today.”
“We went there (Murrayfield) to win. Whenever you play for the England rugby team and you don’t win, you cop flak. That’s the way it is. What I was most please about was how we got together and were clear about how we needed to move forward. I think you saw a lot of the steps today. There’s still a lot to come, it was not the perfect performance by any means, but there was a lot of criticism of our attack, and not many teams go up against Ireland and score three tries.”
2. STEVE BORTHWICK AND ANDY FARRELL’S HALF-TIME DISPUTE
The two head coaches were seen to exchange a few choice words, as the two sides departed for the half-time break following an intense first 40 minutes. Borthwick was asked about the altercation, and whilst he did not discuss what the two said on their way down the Twickenham tunnel, he did discuss how he and the Ireland head coach have a long and storied history.
STEVE BORTHWICK: “(It was) Absolutely fine. 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 is 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.”