Farrell’s men led from start to finish at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, playing with an intensity, precision, and physicality that stymied England and yielded a fine bounty of five tries and 17 points from the tee.
Jamison Gibson-Park was the heartbeat of it all, his quick-witted 19th-minute try and control at half-back embellished by the player-of-the-match medal. Alongside him, Jack Crowley, stood tall too, slotting over seven kicks out of nine.
Tommy O’Brien replaced the injured James Lowe and ran in his first Guinnesss Men’s Six Nations try, adding to fellow winger Robert Baloucoune’s second of the 2026 Championship. Dan Sheehan and Jamie Osborne completed the try haul in the second half.
Captain Caelan Doris had a huge influence, not just as a leader but is setting the standards as the match’s top tackler (20) and one of the leading carriers (11). There were big moments again from Stuart McCloskey, on both sides of the ball, and Tadhg Beirne at the breakdown.
Asked where does this rank as an achievement during his time in charge of Ireland, head coach Farrell replied: “I don’t know, I suppose we’ll have a good think about that whilst we’re reminiscing later on this evening. But it’s a special day, 100%, to come here and perform like that.
“We’d obviously be 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 really. To learn some lessons and grow as a group, as a team, was the overriding feeling for me.”
He added: “Honestly, it does (feel great). We just had the Taoiseach (Micheál Martin) in the changing rooms there. We spoke as a group after that as well. It is special.
“Honestly, I said it to the lads, I didn’t care whether we won or lost today, just whether we grew as a group because we know where we want to go to.
“It just so happens that to the people of Ireland that winning does matter and it brings a bit of joy on everyone’s face.
“For them, I mean the crowd, the people that turned up, it was immense, and I hope everyone at home is just as proud as well.”
Having taken an early lead through a Crowley penalty, Ireland scored 19 points in a sparkling 10-minute spell up to the half-hour mark. In-form Ulster duo Baloucoune and McCloskey made significant contributions, cutting open the defence with breaks in the lead up to tries.
Baloucoune’s own score in the right corner was promptly followed by a yellow card for England full-back Freddie Steward. Despite Fraser Dingwall replying on the stroke of half-time, the visitors were quickest off the mark once more when the second half got underway.
England actually finished the game with more possession (52%), territory (64%), and attacking 22-metre entries (12), but it was how effective Ireland were both with and without the ball. Their clinical edge in attack was back, and they got a massive return from their 31 kicks, amassing 850.6 kicking metres.
Even when Steve Borthwick’s side got themselves in try-scoring situations, how Ireland reacted was telling. Baloucoune brilliantly got across to join O’Brien in felling Tommy Freeman with a try-saving double tackle. With seven minutes to go, McCloskey reeled in Marcus Smith in a tremendous chase down.
“Well, we got told we needed to dampen England down and rightly so because we were here two years ago when England lost to Scotland, and they played outstandingly well and played some outstanding rugby on that day as well,” acknowledged Farrell.
“There’s a lesson to be learned there, for us. But more so the lesson from Paris (the first round defeat to France) 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 and be free, get out of your own way and just let go and play the game that’s in front of you and have no distractions and we did that.
“What that accumulated to was some fantastic rugby that was broken-field stuff. We got them on the break, made line breaks from deep in our own half, and ground it out as well on their line.
“So, it catered for a bit of everything really but I suppose the telling parts of Stu McCluskey chasing back Marcus (Smith) and being able to put him into touch just shows the fight.
“And 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.”
Having played second fiddle to France on the opening night, and been run close by Italy at home last Saturday, this was quite a turnaround in performance from the 2023 and 2024 champions.
It was heartening to see some of Ireland’s more established names find form in the Twickenham cauldron, including Josh van der Flier, who was left out against Italy, Beirne, and Joe McCarthy who, together with James Ryan, outshone England’s engine room on Maro Itoje’s 100th appearance.
Along with that, and perhaps even more pertinent were the contributions of some of the players who have only got their first taste of Six Nations rugby this month – try scorers Baloucoune and O’Brien, Nick Timoney, and Cian Prendergast, who came onto the bench for an ill Jack Conan.
Pressed on who stood out from his point of view, Farrell said: “Well, I thought Caelan had his best game in a good while. He was immense in his carry. That’s Caelan at his best, isn’t it?
“How he led from the front and got us over the gain-line was outstanding, but we could 100% have two minutes on every single person out there.
“Jamison, Stu McCloskey, Josh, Tadhg Beirne, Joe – it’d be cruel to leave people out. But 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.”
Coming in for his first start for Ireland since November, Crowley covered plenty of ground with his kicks out of hand – 261 metres from 10 kicks – and his half-back partner Gibson-Park did likewise, kicking 13 times for almost 290 metres.
The Munster out-half’s 17-point haul was his highest points tally in an international match, apart from the 12 conversions he kicked against Portugal last July. He also supplied the assist for Osborne’s 69th-minute try.
With Crowley backing up his cameo from the narrow victory over Italy, Farrell noted: “Jack was one of many who was very impressive in how they got over themselves. We felt there was a bit of heavy legs or whatever, getting the feedback from the Paris game.
“And that’s all because we’re not fully in and fully committed and going for the game and being free in your own mind. We’ve done a bit of work over the last couple of weeks to do that.
“We had a good discussion on Wednesday where everyone to a man was being honest with how they’re going to attack the game, and they stood true to their word.”
Ireland will hope to extend the feel-good factor into the final two rounds of the Six Nations, when they host Wales (March 6) and Scotland (March 14). Fans will be able to watch the squad be put through their paces at next Thursday’s open training session at the Aviva Stadium.
The one injury concern to emerge from the England game was winger Lowe, who limped off with some damage to his left leg towards the end of the opening quarter.
Farrell commented: “Didn’t look too good, so it is what it is. But we said during the week, didn’t we, that the balance of the squad as far as the subs and all that, it actually worked out pretty nicely in the end.”
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