Six Nations: Farrell jokes win against 14-man England was ‘never in doubt’

Ireland coach Andy Farrell was all smiles after his side came through a testing Six Nations encounter with 14-man England thanks to a late show at Twickenham.

A bonus-point 32-15 win saw Ireland pull to within two points on France at the top of the standings, keeping their championship hopes alive ahead of the final round of matches.

England were always on the back foot after a red card for Charlie Ewels after just 82 seconds, but they pulled the contest back to 15-15 in the 60th minute after opening the second half with consecutive penalties.

A heroic victory proved beyond the home side, however, as Ireland scored 17 unanswered points – including 14 in the final 10 minutes.

Despite a perhaps lacklustre performance with a man advantage, the barnstorming finish had Farrell chipper when speaking with the media post-match.

“It was never in doubt, was it?” he joked to RTE.

“At 15-all, the game’s in the balance there. When you have 15 against 14, I thought the boys have done really well in some really tough situations.

“They dug deep for one another and came out with what we know is unbelievably hard to do – coming here and getting a bonus point.

“Rolling onto next week with something to play for is what we came to do, and we managed to do that.

“Having said that, we take a lot of lessons. Sometimes, you go chasing a little, and you’ve nothing to lose when you’ve got 14 men. They spoiled our game and they stayed in the hunt themselves. 

“But we managed to find a way, and that’s all that matters. I’m unbelievably pleased and proud of the boys. We roll onto next week.”

Ireland will host Scotland next weekend at Aviva Stadium, while England head to the Stade de France to play the role of spoilers against France.