Head coach Andy Farrell declared himself “proud as punch” after Ireland clinched a fourth Triple Crown in five years with a 43-21 success over Scotland before being denied the Guinness Six Nations title by France.
Ireland moved top of the championship table by deservedly registering a 12th consecutive victory over the Scots – dating back to 2018 – in the opening match of “Super Saturday”.
They remained top of the table as France’s game against England in Paris reached the 80-minute mark but the defending champions kicked a last-gasp penalty to win 48-46 and retain the ultimate prize.
Ireland – champions in 2023 and 2024 – finished second in the standings following four wins from five, with a round-one loss at Stade de France ultimately proving decisive.
Asked if the impressive bonus-point win over Scotland in Dublin was a fitting way to sign off, Farrell replied: “Yeah, absolutely – proud as punch of everyone involved.
“It’s been a hell of an eight weeks and winning matters, but what’s happened over that eight weeks matters more to us in a sense that there’s a lot of firsts with the first caps, first Six Nations, first taking it to the final week when it matters for quite a few people in our group.
“How the group have come together and navigated their way through that has been pretty special, so therefore we grow massively because of it and the group has become more resilient because of that.
“We could talk here all night about the group and what this last eight weeks has meant to us, but unbelievably proud is the word.”
Ireland raced out of the blocks in front of a capacity Aviva Stadium crowd and went ahead inside three minutes courtesy of Jamie Osborne’s fourth try in as many games before Scotland responded through wing Darcy Graham.
Scores from Dan Sheehan and Robert Baloucoune helped the hosts into a 19-7 half-time lead.
Scotland fly-half Finn Russell and co-captain Rory Darge crossed in the second period, either side of a finish from Ireland replacement Darragh Murray, before Tommy O’Brien’s late double and a Jack Crowley penalty sealed victory.
With the visitors twice moving to within five points in the second half and looking dangerous for large parts of a gripping contest, Farrell said: “Well that’s why it (the result) was so pleasing, they played bloody well, you know?
“They did, they kept banging the door down, the whole time, but I thought we had a ruthless edge to us in how we defended and converted in the 22, I suppose that was the story of the game really.”
The ‘Fields of Athenry’ rang around the ground in the closing minutes before wing O’Brien burst away down the left to cap Ireland’s victory.
“It’s our responsibility to make sure that that happens, that we bring the crowd into the game,” said Farrell.
“I don’t think we’ve heard the crowd like that for some time here and that’s what we’re chasing, to all be in it together, that’s what we’ve done in the past and hopefully people can see the signs of where we’re going in the future as well.”
