Farrell savors record Ireland win over England at Twickenham: ‘It is special’

By Canadian Press on February 21, 2026.

LONDON (AP) — There’s life in Ireland, after all.

The Irish were savoring a record 42-21 demolition job on England at Twickenham on Saturday that reignited their Six Nations title bid and dampened doubts about how much more a core group of thirtysomethings had to offer.

Plenty, it seems.

Not only was England shredded by a dozen line breaks, Ireland also put in a swarming defensive shift of 177 tackles to be the first team to storm England’s fortress since November 2024 and pull off Ireland’s biggest ever win at Twickenham.

“It’s a special day, it 100% is to come here and perform like that,” Ireland coach Andy Farrell said.

“But even more so than that for us, I thought the respect that the lads showed for one another out there on the field was immense, the respect they showed for the jersey and what it meant to them, and the respect for the Irish people. To learn some lessons and grow as a team was the overriding feeling for me.

“We just had the Taoiseach (Micheal Martin) in the changing rooms there. We spoke as a group after that as well. It is special. It is special.

“I said it to the lads I didn’t care whether we won or lost, just whether we grew as a group because we know where we want to go to and it just so happens that to the people of Ireland winning does matter.”

Ireland has slumped from No. 1 in the world at the 2023 Rugby World Cup to No. 5 and was expected to lose on Saturday after being thumped by France — its worst Six Nations loss in 16 years — and then only edging Italy. Then thoughts of a British and Irish Lions hangover and hanging on to a dozen players seemingly past their use-by date were obliterated.

“There has been belief still,” captain Caelan Doris said, “and I think you saw some of that through how we played today.”

The game was as good as over after Ireland’s fourth try in the 43rd minute for 29-7. That brought smiles to the faces of Farrell and his assistants.

But what really roused Farrell was the relentless work. He was fist-pumping on his feet and yelling after notable try-saving tackles by Robert Baloucoune in the 63rd minute, when he came off his wing to knock over Tommy Freeman, and by Stuart McCloskey in the 73rd, when he chased down Marcus Smith from behind.

“It looked like we was hunting people down throughout the game,” Farrell said. “You know, it’s one thing going up with a good start and getting the bonus point there as far as four tries is concerned, but how we kick-chased, how we kept hunting down the breakdown, all that type of stuff, it shows that that’s a proper performance where there’s no egos, that everyone’s just going for it together and trying to gain a little bit more respect off one another.”

Ireland finishes at home with Wales and Scotland next month.

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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby

The Associated Press

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