Andy Farrell said that he was prouder than ever to have been part of a team following the historic win by Ireland over New Zealand.
Ireland, which had lost the opening Test, came back to win Dunedin and Wellington. It hadn’t previously defeated the All Blacks in New Zealand.
“Pleased? Farrell stated, “I don’t think that’s the word.”
“What is the most important thing you can say about a group? I don’t believe that there is any word.
France lost the number one spot in rugby after Ireland’s first series victory in New Zealand.
Farrell said, “They’ve taken hold of it enormously. Yesterday, I spoke about the leadership group and how they have grown and developed. We’ve also coached this team together. This is the truth.
“Some of the stuff they’ve done today, we did it together so when I look at it that way, it’s the proudest that I’ve ever been as part of an ensemble, without a shadowof a doubt.”
Ireland was dominant in the first period at Sky Stadium. The Irish scored three tries to none and took a well-deserved 22-3 lead into intermission.
After being a distant second, All Blacks finally came to the party with an energetic fightback in the first half of the second quarter. They scored three tries to reduce the deficit by three.
Ireland rallied, with Rob Herring scoring Rob’s final try to win the match.
Farrell said, “Our best 40-minutes of the campaign were during the first half. This says a lot a lot to how they are as individuals and where they’re going.
“This is by far the most difficult thing in rugby, especially when you get down to the last game. We know from history that the All Blacks will come out firing.
“The best thing about me was the calm we displayed when they came back at our, as they always do. We didn’t get ahead of ourselves when in front, and we didn’t panic when they came back at us.”
Ireland’s tour ended with three wins out of five matches. They also shared a 1-1 mini series draw with the Maori All Blacks.
They lost their two first matches in four days. This led to suspicions that the Irish players were not well-prepared for the final leg of a long northernhemisphere season in Northern hemisphere. None of the four provincial silverware winners had won.
Farrell said that some of the lads were coming off a loss in the quarter-final, semifinal, or final.
“We had three nights of camp before we left for these beaches, and it was back together as that.
“They are a special group, and deserve all they get.”