'Unbelievably proud' – Ireland coach Farrell celebrates record-setting win over France

By Sports Desk February 11, 2023

Ireland boss Andy Farrell hailed the "astonishing" attitude of his players after they halted France's winning run and stretched their own streak to a record 13 consecutive home victories.

France had won 14 on the bounce before arriving in Dublin, but they went down 32-19 at the Aviva Stadium, with the hosts bagging a bonus point after tries from Hugo Keenan, James Lowe, Andrew Porter and Garry Ringrose.

It was a performance that showed why many made Ireland favourites for the title from the get-go, as they followed up victory over Wales last weekend with another impressive display.

They head the world rankings and showed that standing is merited, with Farrell delighted, albeit saying he felt Ireland should perhaps have won by a heavier margin. All the same, the 13-point cushion was the most Ireland have beaten France by in the championship since a 25-6 success in March 1975.

Farrell told ITV: "It was a huge game and rightly so it was billed that way, because it was two great teams going at it, with the French unbeaten record and us going for our home record.

"It all gets thrown into the pot, but at the end of the day it's a victory in the competition we want to do well at, and we'll look at that performance and be unbelievably proud of it.

"The fight and the spirit that we had was astonishing at times, especially in that last 10 minutes.

"Garry Ringrose's try, he was dead on his feet, and then Bundee Aki coming back and dropping on loose balls and James Ryan kept getting up off the floor and taking the ball in for us. I could keep going on."

Farrell added: "The fighting spirit was great, but at the same time I thought we played some good stuff in the first half and should have come away with a few more points, and maybe again in the second half we should have come away with a few more points.

"That's not being greedy, because we got a bonus point, so we've got to be very happy with that, but at the same time we left a few things out there.

"So we're onto the next one, and it's Italy away and the same points are up for grabs."

Farrell was delighted Ireland got to 13 wins in a row at home for the first time, and doing so against a France side he rates so highly was doubly pleasing.

It was his first win over France, who had beaten Ireland in their most recent three encounters, and Farrell said: "I'm sure there'll be many battles down the line as well."

Keenan got Ireland's opening try, bursting through a hole in the French defence, but it was Lowe's score that particularly caught the eye.

He dived over in the corner, with most of his body in touch, and replays appeared to indicate it was a legitimate score after TMO checks.

It was a moment of acrobatic brilliance at high speed. Subsequent angles appeared to hint Lowe may have grazed the grass outside the playing area with a boot, but the try stood.

"He's useful out on that wing, the big lump," said Keenan. "It's brilliant for him and a great team performance."

Delighted to see off Les Bleus, Keenan added: "It was a long time coming. We've had a few tough losses and learnt from those. It was the one we were focusing on, so it's brilliant we got there."

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