It took a mammoth shift.
But Ireland did it. They brought it home. Five wins from five and a Grand Slam to go along with the Six Nations title and Triple Crown.
Nine years on from that famous triumph in 2009, Ireland are the indisuputable force in world rugby. As Brian O’Driscoll mentioned in his post-match remarks on ITV, it’s a shame we’ve to wait until 2019 to give the World Cup a real crack.
For now, though, we’ll have to be content with a flawless Six Nations campaign, culminating with a 25-14 victory at Twickenham on St Patrick’s Day.
There isn’t an Irishman or woman that isn’t immensely proud of this Ireland team, but perhaps it’s a Kiwi who’s the proudest of all. Joe Schmidt, the mastermind behind Ireland’s knockout blow to England, was understandably beaming in his post-match press conference.
He was particularly pleased with how his side stayed organised and disciplined after storming into a 21-5 lead at half-time.
England must be kicking themselves after post-match revelation about CJ Stander tryhttps://t.co/Jk4FgNHanj
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) March 17, 2018
“To show the steel that they did, the commitment and just plain, ordinary rugby ability to keep the ball,” Schmidt said. “And then the exceptional ability Johnny has to put the ball between the uprights.
“And as frustrating as it was for Wales to get close to us, I never really felt like we’d give it up, and then Jacob raced away. He was totally in control of that edge defence.”
“And that eight minutes after half-time today totally summed up this team. We’ve probably totalled more tries than ever. But that pure resilience, the ability to get back up in the defensive line, that was exceptional.”
He’s right. Ireland’s defending, particularly in the early stages of the second half, was outstanding.
There was praise for Schmidt from Eddie Jones, too, the England coach admitting that Ireland could not be begrudged their success.
“They’re a good, tough team,” Jones said. “They’re well-coached and very well disciplined. They play to their strengths and are very worthy Grand Slam winners.”
Hear, hear!
