England 21-42 Ireland: ‘A special day’ – Andy Farrell celebrates a record Six Nations win

Ireland coach Andy Farrell said his players “showed respect for each other and the shirt” as he hailed Saturday’s 42-21 Six Nations win over England as a “special day”.

A fired-up and rejuvenated Irish side scored five tries to secure their biggest win away to England and reignite their title ambitions.

Farrell, who criticized his side after their 36-14 loss to France two weeks ago, was pleased with the graft shown by his players to put on a vintage Irish display.

“It’s a special day, 100 percent, to come out here and perform like this,” Farrell said.

“We’re happy about that, but more importantly for us, I think the respect the players have shown for each other has been tremendous.

“The respect they have for the jersey and what it means to them and the respect for the Irish people really. Learning some lessons and growing as a group and a team was the overriding feeling for me.”

Ireland captain Kellan Doris, who Farrell said had “one of his best games in a while”, echoed the coach’s comments.

“It’s big,” Doris said when asked what Saturday’s show would do for Ireland’s belief.

“I’ve talked to you guys about Paris being a reference point and I hope we will see a sharp rise in performance.

“I think that will now be a reference point that we look at as a proper good performance that gave us a lot of belief.

“It was an unbelievable atmosphere out there. You talk about inspiring the nation and supporting the Irish people, and hopefully that will bring people here and back home a bit of joy today.”