Ireland coach Andy Farrell said that there was still room for improvement following back-to-back wins at the start of the Six Nations with a crunch clash against England at Twickenham looming.
Ireland were impressive in their 24-14 bonus-point victory over Wales in Dublin on Saturday as they dominated territory, the breakdown and set-piece play, and scored four tries to two.
However, Farrell said that his side could be more clinical and hopes they show that against England on Feb. 22 in a match that could go a long way toward deciding this year’s Six Nations title.
Photo: Reuters
“We said it wasn’t a brilliant performance, but we had a good preparation this week with an improved performance,” Farrell told reporters. “Even after a bonus-point win, there is plenty more in us and we’ll be looking to do that.”
“It’s a good place to be, two from two, and still plenty to do,” he said. “We’ve room for improvement. It’s a good place to be.”
In Edinburgh, Eddie Jones accused spectators in the crowd at Murrayfield of being “without manners” following England’s hard-fought 13-6 win over Scotland.
England captain Owen Farrell was repeatedly jeered by home supporters when taking his time over goal-kicks at the rainswept ground.
Some crowds remain silent during goal-kicks and an announcement over the Murrayfield public-address system urged spectators to maintain the tradition of respecting the kicker.
“It was an old-fashioned Calcutta Cup game, swirling wind and an aggressive crowd without manners,” Jones told the BBC.
Arguably of more concern to officials was that England’s high-performance manager Neil Craig was hit on the head by a plastic beer bottle thrown from an upper gantry shortly after the team arrived at Murrayfield.
Owen Farrell missed three out of six goal-kicks and the match was all square at 3-3 until England replacement prop Ellis Genge was driven over off for a decisive try 10 minutes from time.
“We played well and luckily I was the one that picked it up,” Genge said. “We are buzzing to win but there is more to come. We had a bump in the road last week and people were saying we were not good enough. It’s classic, you have a lot of ‘sausages’ that say things that come to their head.”
“What are they on about?” he asked. “We go away and win in Scotland in the rain and they are full of praise again. I hope we have shut them up.”
Saturday’s victory saw World Cup finalists England return to winning ways after a 24-17 defeat in their Six Nations opener against France, who were to play Italy at the Stade de France in Paris after press time last night.
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