Andy Farrell hailed Ireland’s grit and determination after they began the 2020 Guinness Six Nations with a hard-fought 19-12 win against Celtic rivals Scotland.
Fly-half Johnny Sexton, in his first home game as captain, scored all of Ireland’s points at the Aviva Stadium, with a ninth-minute try and four penalties.
But their win was built on a stingy defence, marshalled impressively by Peter O’Mahony and Guinness Six Nations Player of the Match CJ Stander, as they kept Scotland and their vibrant attack at arm’s length.
And Farrell, who enjoyed victory in his first game as Ireland head coach, was proud of the way his players held on despite playing below their best.
“I thought we thoroughly deserved the win, although I thought Scotland were great – it was a tough Test match,” he said.
“It was very attritional, Scotland’s forwards were very impressive and defensively they were hitting hard and we know how much of a threat they are with ball in hand so we had to dig deep plenty of times.
“In the first half they came away with a couple of three-pointers but the game was summed up in the last five minutes. We asked the lads to make sure they stand for something and I think you can easily see their true grit.
“Those tight five boys had to dig deep. We had a couple of injuries nice and early and that made it tricky for us. Some players had to stay on longer than they had done in the past but they led the way and I thought it was outstanding.”
Ireland are back in Dublin in Round 2, with Wales coming to town following their own successful start to the 2020 Championship.
They saw off Italy 42-0 and Farrell admits Ireland must improve if they are going to make it two wins from two, especially in possession.
“Some of the decision-making was good, some of it was wayward. Those type of things will be a work in progress. We will keep building on it,” he added.
“We did not have much field position, but when we got into their 22 we were dynamic and things were flowing a bit better.
“In the second half, when we got into the 22 they gave a penalty away. I thought we made some good yards and were breaking the seam a little bit but we took the penalty.
“In the first half, it was our first trip to their 22 and it was clinical as far as the try was concerned. There was some good and now we will have a look at the Wales game.
“They [Wales] will be cock-a-hoop so we will need to be much better.”
