By Murray Kinsella
Rugby Correspondent
The exhilarating feeling for more than 20,000 Irish fans in Twickenham two weekends ago was all the greater because of what happened in Paris a fortnight before. From the doom and gloom after Stade de France – the concern over whether Ireland were a spent force, the worry that senior players were on the decline – rose a thunderous new wave of optimism about Andy Farrell’s team.
In between, victory over a much-improved Italy team got Ireland back on a winning track, but it was a mixed bag of a performance. For now, that game may be the best barometer of where Ireland are. Yet their showing in Twickenham resets the level to chase.
By his standards, Farrell was scathing of his team post-Paris, calling into question their intent. Having made it clear that such timidity wasn’t acceptable, Farrell built his players’ confidence, reminding them of the brilliance they’re capable of. That culminated in a record-breaking hammering of the English.
Now, Ireland have a shot at securing the Triple Crown for the second year in a row, with Wales and Scotland to visit Dublin in the next two weekends.
So this is the story of how Farrell’s team turned things around. There are still concerning elements of their form, but the Ireland boss has got supporters believing again.