Ireland win one of the ‘proudest’ moments of my career – George،
England captain Jamie George described his thrilling 23-22 victory over Ireland at Twickenham on Saturday as one of the proudest moments of his career.
Flyhalf Marcus Smith scored a drop goal on the final kick of a home-and-away match to seal victory for the home side and end Ireland's hopes of becoming the premier team of the era of the Six Nations to achieve a consecutive victory. Grand Slam crowns.
Speaking at a press conference after what will surely be considered a Six Nations classic, George said he couldn't be happier with his team.
“I’m so proud, it’s probably one of the most emotional and proudest days of my career,” George said. “The reason is there were a lot of skeptics after Scotland’s performance and probably rightly so.
“For us to go there and do that to a team like Ireland, who for me are the best team in the world at the moment, it was a really, really special day.”
George has led a campaign to forge a better connection between his team and fans, with the atmosphere of Twickenham at his core.
It is therefore not surprising that the England captain, who finished on the bench, spoke of the emotion the victory gave him.
Twickenham erupted as the match was won in the dying moments when Smith forced the nervous fans to their feet and crushed Ireland's dreams at the same time with a single kick.
“We talked a lot about making Twickenham a really tough place to play and I thought we did that today,” he said. “I don't like watching. But I was impressed with the boys on the pitch. The composure we showed but also going out there to win the game.
“We didn't panic at any point. I have to admit it was a little emotional at the end because of everything that happened, but the most important thing was that I was so proud of the players in the field.”
Head coach Steve Borthwick was pleased with the determination his team showed after bouncing back from defeat against Scotland a fortnight ago, and challenged his players to improve further and finish with a victory against France in Lyon next weekend.
“I've seen teams be pulled in all kinds of different directions [after a loss]”, Borthwick said at a press conference. “What pleased me the most was that the players remained loyal to [the] path we are trying to follow and have tried to take the next step in progress. We asked them again to do things a little differently and under the direction of the man next to me. [George]it takes a lot of courage.
I want a better performance next week against France, we will watch their match tomorrow [against Wales] with keen interest. “It promises to be a great Test match and hopefully another great Test match like today.”
Ireland coach Andy Farrell was quick to praise England, who he said had the upper hand for much of the match, but said he was not surprised by their performance.
“Not at all. Look at the quality of players they have,” Farrell said. “Certainly when you come off a loss it focuses the mind, I hope that's the case for us. I thought we were great tonight.
“We want to win everything, we never hesitate to do that. That's the life you dust yourself off after winning and move on to the next one, we have to be good at losing too.”
Ireland host Scotland in Dublin next Saturday where they will attempt to secure their second consecutive Six Nations title.
