England captain Jamie George has labelled their thrilling 23-22 win over Ireland at Twickenham on Saturday as one of the proudest moments of his career.
Fly-half Marcus Smith slotted a drop goal with the last kick of a back-and-forth match to seal victory for the home side, and end Ireland’s hopes of becoming the first team in the Six Nations era to win back-to-back Grand Slam crowns.
Speaking at a news conference after what will surely go down as a Six Nations classic, George said he couldn’t be happier with his side.
“I’m so proud, it’s probably one of the most emotional and proudest days of my career for sure,” George said. “The reason for that is there was a lot of doubters after the Scotland performance and probably rightly so.
“For us to go out there and do that to a team like Ireland, who for me are best team in world at the minute, it was a really really special day.”
George has been on a campaign to forge a better connection between his side and its fans, with the atmosphere at Twickenham at the centre of his focus.
It’s no wonder then that the England captain, who finished on the bench, spoke of the emotion the win prompted in him.
Twickenham erupted when the match was clinched in the final moments as Smith forced the nervous fans to their feet and crushed Ireland’s dreams at the same time with a single kick.
“We spoke 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 in awe of the boys on the field. The composure we showed but also going out there to win the game.
“We didn’t panic at any stage. I had to admit it was a bit emotional in the end because of everything that’s gone on but most important thing I was so proud of players on the field.”
Head coach Steve Borthwick was pleased with the resolve his side showed after bouncing back from the defeat to Scotland a fortnight ago, and has challenged his players to improve again and finish with a win against France in Lyon next weekend.
“I’ve seen teams get pulled in all kinds of different directions [after a loss],” Borthwick told a news conference. “What pleased me the most is the players stayed true to [the] path we’re trying to follow and tried to take the next step in progress. We asked them again to do things a little bit differently and led by the man next to me [George], that takes a lot of courage.
“I want an improved performance next week against France, we’ll be watching their game tomorrow [against Wales] with keen interest. “It promises to be a formidable Test match and hopefully another great Test match like today.”
Ireland coach Andy Farrell was quick to compliment England, who he accepted had the better of them for large parts of the game, but he said he wasn’t surprised with their performance.
“Not at all. Look at the quality of players they’ve got,” Farrell said. “Certainly when you’re coming off a defeat it concentrates the mind, I hope it does for us. I thought we were super tonight.
“We want to win everything, we never shy away from that. That’s life you dust yourselves down after winning and move on to the next one, we’ve got to be good at losing as well.”
Ireland host Scotland in Dublin next Saturday where they’ll attempt to clinch their second straight Six Nations title.