ROSE TRIMMED

Ireland coach Andy Farrell praised his side’s fighting spirit in their 42-21 demolition of England on Saturday, hailing his team’s progress after a disappointing start to their Six Nations campaign.

His players were outclassed by title favourites France in Paris in the opening game and struggled past Italy last weekend, leaving Ireland fans travelling to Twickenham in hope rather than expectation.

Two years ago, a wounded England followed a defeat by Scotland at Murrayfield with a narrow win over Ireland, but the visitors raced into an early 22-point lead they never looked like conceding to ensure history did not repeat itself.

“We got told we needed to dampen them down and rightly so, because we were here two years ago when England lost to Scotland and they played outstandingly well and played some outstanding rugby on that day as well,” Farrell told reporters.

“There’s a lesson to be learned there for us, but more so the lesson from Paris (earlier this month) … growing as a group is the key.

“It’s about doing the things that you promised each other that you were going to do and be free, get out of your own way and just let go and play the game that’s in front of you and have no distractions.”

FARRELL HAILS IRELAND’S RUTHLESSNESS

England’s faint hopes were ended by Dan Sheehan’s try shortly after the restart, though Ireland were relentless throughout the second half even with the contest effectively over.

“It looked like we were hunting people down throughout the game,” Farrell said.

“It’s one thing going up with a good start and gaining the bonus point … 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 are no egos.

“Everyone’s just going for it together and trying to gain a little bit more respect for one another.”

Farrell, though, declined to comment on his side’s chances of winning the title, which they may have to do without winger James Lowe who went off injured in the first half.

“Honestly, I said it to the lads: I didn’t care whether we won or lost today, just whether we grew as a group because we know where we want to go to,” he said.

“What will be will be, we just need to move on after this.”

Meanwhile, There was some pride in another bitter defeat for Wales as they let a 12-point halftime lead slip in a 26-23 defeat by Scotland in their Six Nations home clash on Saturday, as coach Steve Tandy hailed it as another step forward.

Wales were much improved on defence, having conceded 102 points in their first two games in the championship, but switched off at a vital moment in the second half to allow Scotland to build up a head of steam and win the game. It was a 14th successive defeat for the Welsh in the Six Nations, and 24th in their last 26 tests overall, but Tandy insists they are a team moving in the right direction.

“Bitterly disappointed not to win the game,” he told reporters. “But there is massive pride in the group.

“That was a step in the right direction, but we’ve got to be better next time. There was a lot to like in the first-half, with how we attacked the game.

“It’s a difficult one to swallow. It’s about us getting better. It’s around the journey, we’re at the start of something. They (Scotland) had 10 (British & Irish) Lions. It’s not the scoreboards you want, and we’re nowhere near the team we want to be. I’m devastated for the group but we’ve got to keep getting better. There’s large parts of that game where if we keep growing, we’ll be in the fight.” -SuperSport