Andy Farrell hailed Johnny Sexton as the greatest player in Ireland’s history as the pair celebrated a stunning Grand Slam triumph following a tense 29-16 bonus-point victory over 14-man England.
Captain Sexton helped his country clinch a first championship clean sweep in Dublin – and fourth in total – on the occasion of his final outing in the tournament to reignite the St Patrick’s weekend party.
The 37-year-old, who is due to retire following the autumn World Cup in France, kicked nine points to move clear of Ronan O’Gara as the Guinness Six Nations’ all-time leading scorer with a total of 566.
Head coach Farrell was “immensely proud” of the achievement of his entire squad and singled out influential skipper Sexton for special praise. “He’s been saying all week this is what dreams are made of,” said Farrell. “It doesn’t come around that often. “And it’s unbelievably fitting that in my opinion the best player ever to play for Ireland is able to sign off on a Grand Slam, on St Patrick’s Day, in front of his own crowd. “There are a lot of stars that have aligned over the course of the last eight weeks and come together this evening.” Ireland’s previous Grand Slams – in 1948, 2009 and 2018 – had been clinched in Belfast, Cardiff and London respectively.