GREEN PARTY!
Ireland celebrate back-to-back titles after tense win over dogged Scots
Ireland celebrate winning the Six Nations title in Dublin yesterday
IT WASN’T pretty but Ireland sealed back-to-back Six Nations titles last night with a hardfought win against a tenacious Scotland side at Aviva Stadium.
Dan Sheehan’s first-half try edged the nervous hosts into a 7-6 lead at the break but it took a late Andrew Porter effort to break the stubborn Scottish resistance.
Even though Ireland’s bid for successive clean sweeps was derailed against England, head coach Andy Farrell hailed his players for landing yet another title.
‘It was a proper Test match and when a trophy is on the line for both of us, that’s how it should be, shouldn’t it?’ he said.
‘I’ve no doubt that Scotland will be proud of that performance as well as us but, ultimately, we’re delighted.
‘It’s about winning championship for us and that’s unbelievably pleasing because it’s so hard to do.
‘Everyone constantly talks about Grand Slams and we get carried away with it so much. Back-to-back Grand Slams have never been done before but there’s obviously a good reason for that but for us to be in a position to win a back-to-back Six Nations is a nice feeling for us because it does down in history for Irish rugby, so we’re unbelievably proud of the group.’
Captain Peter O’Mahony praised the reaction of his teammates in the wake of the Twickenham defeat, as Ireland bounced back with a hardearned win last night.
‘It was a tough week we put down as a group,’ said the Munster flanker.
‘I said to Andy on the way in here it was a tough week and probably one of the toughest days I put down nerves-wise beforehand. Chatting to a few fellas, they were in the same boat, which was nice. But yeah, 100% it has to be up there as one of the most special days in my career, if not the most.’
After a stellar international career, O’Mahony could potentially have played his final game for Ireland.
The 34-year-old is reportedly set to call time on his career and was visibly emotional during the pre-match anthems but O’Mahony would not confirm if this was his last appearance in the green jersey.
‘I don’t know, I need to go and talk to my wife and family and have a think about it,’ he added.
‘I won’t be making any decisions over the next few days but next week we’ll have to have a chat.
‘If it was my last one, it wasn’t a bad one to go out on.’