"A Special Day" - Andy Farrell & Caelan Doris react to Ireland's Six Nations win over England

After the match Ireland head coach Andy Farrell headed to the post-match media centre, where he was joined by his team's captain Caelan Doris. The duo spoke to the press following their triumphant efforts at Twickenham, with the door back open for Ireland for a push towards the Six Nations title.

A bonus talking point from the press conference, was Andy Farrell's assessment of James Lowe's injury. Whilst the Ireland team doctors are yet to provide an official review of the wing's fitness, Lowe limping from the pitch made for a tough watch for Farrell. "It didn't look too good. It is what it is. We said during the week that the balance of the squad as far as the subs and all that. It worked out pretty nicely."

With two wins and one defeat after three rounds, Ireland find themselves within the conversation for a late push to the Six Nations title. Whilst fortune favours the French to retain their crown, Ireland enter the incoming fallow week with a spring in their step. Andy Farrell expressed how 'what will be, will be', in regards to a possible title triumph, as France hold the cards as front-runners.

ANDY FARRELL: “It's a special day, to come here and perform like that. We're delighted with that. But, even more so than that for us, I thought the respect that the lads show for one another out there on the field was immense. The respect that they show for the jersey and what it meant to them and the respect for the Irish people. To learn some lessons and grow as a group, as a team, was the overriding feeling for me.”

"What will be will be [for Six Nations title hopes]. We just need to move on after that. We've got a fallow week and we'll review the start of the competition and seeing how much we've grown. The important part for us is to keep doing that in the last two weeks. What will be will be really."

This performance from Ireland was a stark progression from how the side ran out in the opening week of the Six Nations. Ireland were well beaten upon their opening round trip to Paris, as they struggled to dent a destructive French outfit who ran in a heavy 36-14 loss.

'Intent' was the buzzword of the subsequent week, as Ireland geared up for their second round win over Italy, in what was a hard-fought comeback victory in Dublin. Farrell spoke about the lessons his side took from Paris, with every man in the Ireland squad leaving it all on the line for their teammates.

ANDY FARRELL: "The lesson from Paris, and us growing as a group is the key. It's about doing the things that you promised each other that you were going to do. Being free, getting out of your own way, and let go and play the game that's in front of you and have no distractions. We did that, what that accumulated to was some fantastic rugby and that was broken field stuff. We Got them on the break, we made line breaks deep in our own half and we ground it out as well on the line."

One of Ireland's best players throughout this entire Six Nations campaign has been Stu McCloskey. The Ulster centre once again stepped up to fill the void left by Bundee Aki, as the Connacht man served the last of his three-match ban for discent in a URC match. Aki will be available for Ireland's fourth round match against Wales, but McCloskey has provided more than capeable of holding down the midfield.

McCloskey backed up his stellar attacking effort against Italy with a dominant showing on the defensive foot against England. Farrell was delighted to see how hard McCloskey worked to track back and make a tackle on Marcus Smith, after the Harlequin intercepted a loose pass and headed towards the try-line.

ANDY FARRELL: The telling parts of Stu McCluskey chasing back on Marcus Smith, and being able to put him in touch, just shows the fight. Also, the Rob Baloucoune one on the far side, just shows the fight and the spirit that these lads have got for one another and what It means to them."

“It looked like he was hunting people down throughout the game. It's one thing going up with a good start and getting the bonus point there, as far as four tries is concerned. But how we kick-chased, how we kept hunting down the breakdown, it shows that that's a proper performance where there's no egos. Everyone's just going for it together and trying to gain a little bit more respect off one another.”

Cast your minds back to mid-January, and the narrative around this Ireland team was that they were in the middle of an 'injury crisis'. With a plethora of experienced regulars out on the side-lines, Ireland set out for a Six Nations without the likes of Andrew Porter, Hugo Keenan and Mack Hansen to name just a few.

Bundee Aki's suspension threw a further spanner in the works, as Farrell called upon a fresh cohort of Ireland players to step up and fill the voids. A crop of new-coming names and returning faces continue to make good upon their extended efforts in the Six Nations.

ANDY FARRELL: "The growth in the team, is with the likes of Rob Baloucoune and Stu McCloskey dominating at this type of level in such a big game like that. Cian Prendergast coming on and showing that he belongs at this level. Nick Timoney coming on and doing exactly the same. The respect that they have now got from their peers is pretty solid.”

It was expected that a quarter of all tickets sold for this Allianz Stadium clash were snapped up by Ireland fans in a stunning show of away support. Some 20,000 green shirts were reported to be in attendance, be it from those who hopped across the Irish Sea on the ex-pat London residents that call the city home.

The Ireland fans certainly brought the noise, as 'Ireland's Call' and 'Fields of Athenry' rang out around Twickenham as if the match was held in Dublin. Caelan Doris was delighted to see the Ireland fans get behind their team, as the men in green have fully turned around their Six Nations campaign.

CAELAN DORIS: “It's big. I spoke to you guys [the media] yesterday about Paris being a reference point where hopefully we'll see a pretty steep incline in terms of 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.

"I've also mentioned to you guys that at the core of what we're doing in training, in camp, there has been belief still, and I think you saw some of that through how we played today. But yeah, it was just an unbelievable atmosphere out there. You talk about inspiring the nation and getting the Irish people behind us and hopefully that brought both the people here and at home a bit of joy today. We definitely enjoyed it.”