"Feels A Bit Surreal" - 5 Things We Learned: England 23-22 Ireland - Feyi-Waboso, George Furbank & More React to Six Nations Win

Twickenham Stadium hosted a match that will long be remembered last weekend, as England achieved a last-ditch triumph over heavily favoured Ireland. In what goes down as the biggest win in the Steve Borthwick era so far, England snatched the win through Marcus Smith's 80th minute drop goal.

There was plenty of post match reactions, as both England and Ireland's players and coaches shared their thoughts on the stunning test match. The post-match mix zone was abuzz with journalists and TV reporters, who were eager to hear from the players, as the celebrating supporters spilled out onto the Twickenham concourse. Here are five things we learned from the post-match interviews, after England achieved an unexpected victory over Ireland.

After an inspired tempo-lift from the bench against Scotland, Manny Feyi-Waboso was awarded his first start for England in last weekend's win against Ireland. It was a truly unforgettable day for the young Exeter wing, who was amongst his side's top performers against Andy Farrell's men. The 21-year-old expressed how it was indescribable to be apart of the winning England team, on his first test match start.

"Amazing. Nothing like it. It’s ecstasy. When the drop-goal went over, it was crazy. It didn’t feel real. Emotional as well. Class."

"The whole experience was crazy, the ups and downs, hearing ‘Swing Low’ in the stadium. I didn’t think you’d hear it because you’re in the zone but during breaks in play, it’s crazy when you hear that. I think I had goosebumps on the pitch when I heard that. It does get you up. It felt like we were in control of that game. Amazing."

"Yeah, I was still feeling all of those emotions on the bench (against Scotland). Starting, I was definitely more nervous the day before. But then you get lots of clarity from the coaches. You know, roughly what’s coming. When the coaches are telling you to get the ball in your hands you just feel a lot more comfortable.

In what was the match-winning moment of magic, Marcus Smith sent the ball sailing through the posts to clinch the win over Ireland at the last possible moment. England centre Ollie Lawrence spoke after the match, and shared what was going through his mind when the ball was shipped to the Harlequin, who was stood poised in the pocket.

"We had the penalty advantage on the right hand side. I looked up at the clock and it said '80', and I thought 'why are we still going here?' I don't know what we're waiting for!'

"Then we had another penalty under the sticks. Marcus pulled back into the pocket and we managed to slot that drop goal. All the 10s practise that in training. He had the opportunity to win the game. We were calm as a team, we knew we had the penalty to rely on and we had the players to execute, which they're so good at doing.

We just got into the shape of (going) around the corner, around the corner, to try and get over the line. The ball got slower and then Marcus was there in the pocket. It was fingers crossed and we all hoped. He delivered just as he always does."

"Yes definitely, (big impact from Marcus Smith). That's another thing we touched on this week, making sure the bench comes on and brings that energy. They all did really well."

Additionally, Lawrence gave an insight into the England changing rooms, with the celebrations in full flow for scrum-half Danny Care. The Harlequin achieved his 100th cap for his country, and became only the sixth male in history to make a century of appearances for England.

"We had our team song that we sing after a win. We had a few talks for Danny Care because it was his 100th game today. That was a massive factor for us today as well, it was DC's 100th game and wanted to make sure we put in a performance for him. We need to be able to beat teams like this to push up in the rankings. That's what we want to do slowly but steadily."

Heading into the 2024 Six Nations, Ireland had the goal of becoming history makers. As it has been well documented over the passed few weeks, no side in history has won back-to-back Grand Slams in the modern Six Nations era. We will have to continue to wait for a nation to achieve this accolade, as England ruined Ireland's plans of immortalisation.

Ireland back-row Josh van der Flier spoke after the match, and expressed his disappointment to miss out on the second consecutive Grand Slam. The flanker had an excellent performance at Twickenham, in what made the last-ditch defeat all the more frustrating.

"No, it’s pretty disappointing. The dream of every team every year in Six Nations is to be on for a Grand Slam and that was obviously the overriding goal but to win a championship is close to as good. I’ll have to get over that now, as a team we’ll review it. That normally helps a good bit, once you have it reviewed, you go through your mistakes and then it’s just ramping it up for Scotland. Reminder that you are up there to be taken down.

"It’s definitely a part of it, it’s sport at the end of the day as well. Over the last few years we seem to have always come out on the right side of those games with the exception of a couple so, yeah, it’s the way sport can go. We’ll have to be better towards the end of the games and throughout to not get it to that stage. Credit to England and we move on."

George Furbank has continued on with his impressive form, that has seen him surpass Freddie Steward to the be England's go-to fullback in recent weeks. Furbank returned to the starting spot for England's third round trip to Scotland, and marked the occasion with a try in the early goings of the match.

The Northampton Saints man followed this up with a try against Ireland, and an all-round solid outing against the side who many consider to be the best in the world. Speaking after the match, Furbank expressed how it felt 'surreal' to be apart of the match, and the processes that England stuck with to achieve the victory.

"It feels a bit surreal, to be honest. But it was an unbelievable game. We spoke about sticking in the fight and putting what we wanted to on the pitch and I think we showed that and we did that really well."

"Those close games are almost more satisfying, aren't they? Obviously, Marcus hits the drop (goal) to win it but I was on the floor at the time, so I didn't really know what was going on. But I heard the crowd and that gave me the sign that we’d won the game. I didn't know what to feel at the time. I was just pretty exhausted but elated at the same time."

"We spoke in the week about adding tempo to our game and playing what's in front of us and being brave, making good decisions. I think we did that up until up until the 80th minute there. We almost scored a try three or four times leading up to that passage and Marcus then just sat in the pocket and banged over a drop goal, like he does."

"I was very happy obviously to be picked again and it's nice to get a couple of games in a row. I’ve got some very strong competition in Fred (Steward), who's being class for the 30-odd games that he's paid for England and he's incredibly consistent. So I know I've got to be at my best to keep that jersey. That probably wasn't there against Scotland but I'm glad he stuck with me and I felt a bit more comfortable going into this game"

After making a series of cameo appearances in the closing moments so far for England, Theo Dan was awarded a 27-minute run-out to help turn the tide against Ireland. The Saracen replaced his club and country mentor Jamie George, and helped orchestrate the attack in the matches latter stages. Stepping up to the mark with inch-perfect line-out throws, Dan has steadily emerged as the future of the England two jersey.

Yet he must bide his time, as his captain Jamie George steers the ship from the front row. Dan explained how he had "run out of superlatives" to describe his teammate, as George is clearly a solid mentor to the 23-year-old.

"He’s an incredible person. An incredible mentor to me. I have run out of superlatives for him because he’s been that good to me. It’s pretty easy if you are an older player and you see someone young coming through to be a bit stand-offish, but he could not be more of the opposite. He has taken me under his wing. He’s been an incredible mentor to me overall the past few years."

"The past few weeks I haven’t had that much game time but it has been gradually increasing. I’m getting a lot more confidence on the pitch and to be trusted with 30 minutes in a game that was so tight, it was in the balance when I came on, it means so much to me going forward. It means Steve and the coaches have got full confidence in me and I’m just grateful to repay in any way I can. "