LONDON (Reuters) - Ireland set up the grand slam with three-first half tries en route to their 24-15 victory at Twickenham but it was their defence after that, when England threw everything at them, that encapsulated their approach, coach Joe Schmidt said on Saturday.
Tries by Garry Ringrose, CJ Stander and Jacob Stockdale had them 21-5 ahead at halftime and defending champions England, desperate to avoid a first home defeat under Eddie Jones, came out throwing everything at them in a relentless series of attacks.
The Irish stood firm to such an extent, though, that they did not concede another point until the 64th minute, by which time they had added another three of their own.
"I think that eight minutes after halftime sums up this team and this campaign," Schmidt told reporters.
"We can put together some good moments, and we certainly delivered on tries, but that pure resilience, that willingness to get back up and keep them off our tryline ... that was special," he said.
"When you get to those moments it says a lot about a team – they fronted up again and again against some powerful English carriers.
"We knew we could not let them get an early score and our defence was immense. (England) laid siege to our 22 but we showed a lot of character."
Schmidt said his overwhelming emotion was relief. "It's a very exuberant dressing room but for me it's more relief than anything," said the New Zealander.
"You are willing it and wanting players to go out and deliver what they are capable of."
He also could not help looking back to the first game of the championship in Paris when, after dominating France, Ireland suddenly found themselves trailing with three minutes to go.
Cue the fabled 41-phase move, culminating in Jonny Sexton's drop-goal to snatch the win.
"Our resilience then ... we showed steel and commitment and the plain rugby ability to keep playing. Then there was the exceptional talent of Jonny to finish it off," he said.
Captain Rory Best, playing his 111th test, was a part of the 2009 team, who secured Ireland's second slam following their 1948 success but said this one ranked even higher.
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"It's a bit more special for me, starting every game and captaining the side," he said.
"It's up there as the biggest highlight of my career and to do it with this tight-knit group - I know everyone says that when they win things, but it really is."
Best, too, looked back to Paris, where the foundation stone was laid.
"You can look at the fine margins - we looked dead and buried in Paris but it was a sign of what we believe in," he said. "We wanted to ensure that magic moments like Jonny’s kick don’t go without the reward."
They certainly got their reward, on St Patrick's Day with thousands of Irish fans turning the Twickenham air green, but Best, at the age of 35, still managed to turn one eye to the future.
"This was our grand slam but we just want to keep getting better," he said.
"This is what we wanted, but we'll always want more."
(Reporting by Mitch Phillips, editing by Neville Dalton)
