ANDY FARRELL said the respect his players have for one another and the lack of egos in the changing room helped his side to a record-breaking 42-21 win over England at Twickenham.
Ireland came into the Six Nations clash after being soundly beaten in France and scraping past Italy in Dublin but they ran in five tries against the hosts on Saturday.
Ireland were 22-0 up as the break approached after tries from Jamison Gibson-Park, Rob Baloucoune and Tommy O'Brien, while Jack Crowley converted twice and scored a penalty.
Fraser Dingwall pulled a try back just before half-time, converted by George Ford, but Dan Sheehan dotted down shortly after the restart, Crowley again adding the extras to make it 29-7.
Ollie Lawrence grabbed England's second try midway through the second half but two Crowley penalties and a Jamie Osborne try, converted by the Munster fly-half, made it 42-14 with 10 minutes remaining.
Sam Underhill's late try, converted by Ford, couldn't distract from a dominant performance from the visitors, who host Wales in Dublin next Friday.
The bonus-point win is Ireland's biggest away victory over England, surpassing the 17-point winning margin when the sides met at Twickenham four years ago.
The title may be beyond Ireland given the scintillating form of holders France but it was a performance that lifted the gloom that descended after the disappointing opener in Paris.
'Hunting people down'
Farrell said afterwards that his side had learnt their lessons from the France game and had grown as a group since then.
"It's a special day, it 100 per cent is to come here and perform like that," he said.
"We'd obviously be delighted with that but even more so than that for us, I thought that the respect that the lads showed for one another out there on the field was immense.
"The respect that they showed for the jersey and what it means to them and the respect for the Irish people.
"To learn some lessons and grow as a group and as a team was the overriding feeling for me."
Farrell added that the success came not just from individual performances but from his players respecting one another and working together.
"It's about doing the things that you promised each other that you were going to do, get out of your own way and just let go, play the game that's in front of you and have no distractions," he said.
Andy Farrell said Ulster pair Rob Baloucoune and Stuart McCloskey showed they could dominate at international level (Image: Brendan Moran / Sportsfile via Getty Images)"We did that and 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, ground it out as well on their line so it catered for a bit of everything.
"The telling parts of Stu McCloskey chasing back Marcus [Smith] and being able to put him in touch just shows the fight.
"Also the Rob Baloucoune [turnover] 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 we were hunting people down throughout the game.
"It's one thing going up with a good start and gaining the bonus point but how we kick-chased, how we kept hunting down the breakdown, all that type of stuff 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."
'Growth'
Such was the collective brilliance of his side, Farrell said afterwards that he could wax lyrical about all the players who featured.
However, he highlighted the ability of young players and those on the fringes to come in and complement the team, as well as the response from those who were dropped from the starting XV and the match-day squad for Italy following the France defeat.
"We could 100 per cent have two minutes on every single person out there," said Farrell.
"Jamison and Stu McCloskey, Josh [van der Flier], Tadhg Beirne, it would 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."
Elsewhere on Saturday, Scotland came from 20-5 down after 50 minutes to defeat Wales 26-23 in Cardiff, while France host Italy this afternoon.
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