Ireland captain Rory Best hailed his side’s performance as they came through to beat England at Twickenham and claim a third-ever Grand Slam.
Ireland scored three first-half tries through Garry Ringrose, CJ Stander and the record-breaking Jacob Stockdale, who now holds the record for the most tries in a single NatWest 6 Nations, with seven.
Elliot Daly scored twice in England’s response, but they succumbed to their third defeat in a row as Ireland came away with a famous victory.
Best said: “We knew it was going to be a really tough task to come here and win, but right from the off we tried to attack England with and without the ball.
“It was a ferocious Test match right throughout. I think words can’t describe how delighted we are with that win, but also with the Grand Slam.
“We just had to make every moment count, every single moment.
“We had to build some moments on top of each other and build as close to a perfect 80 minutes as we could because we knew the reward would be worth the massive effort that’s required.”
CJ Stander’s try, in particular, was the product of great work on the training ground, with Bundee Aki breaking over the gain line and finding the No.8 who muscled his way to the foot of the post to score.
Best said: “We had a couple of moves that we hoped would work that came off.
“Some days it works and some it doesn’t and you like to hope on the big occasion you pull it off and the boys get what they need, and that’s exactly what happened.
“You have to give massive credit, not just to the squad of 23, but right throughout the 30-odd people we’ve had in camp throughout this campaign.
“The way they’ve prepared us and the way the boys have gone about their business, I don’t think you can give enough credit to everyone.”
Asked about whether this was a statement that international teams around the world should take notice ahead of next year’s World Cup, Best said their focus was solely on the NatWest 6 Nations.
He said: “It was all about this game and the Grand Slam.
“The statement for us was to make sure we win something big and ultimately in what turned out to be a cup final for us to show what we’re made of.”
