Andy Farrell: 'This is living, this is where you want to be'

Ireland boss Andy Farrell praised his players for their performance against Scotland, the Irish fans for their incomparable support and then looked forward to a day of destiny with the All Blacks, declaring "this is living."

Farrell watched his team dismantle Scotland in their final Pool B game to secure table-topping entry to the World Cup quarter-final stage where they will face New Zealand next Saturday. Needless to say, the Englishman loved what he saw from all concerned.

"We actually don't know what our potential is," Farrell told Virgin Media TV. "We know what we're trying to strive for as far as all different parts of the game. But I don't think we've seen the best of our game yet.

"And obviously next week is a huge, huge game against a fantastic side that's playing some unbelievable rugby at this moment in time.

"That's living isn't it? That's where you want to be. If you can't get excited about that, we might as well not turn up."

Ireland never allowed their Celtic cousins to settle and the game was effectively over as a contest by half-time. Only a late flourish from the Scots dressed up the scoreboard slightly.

"I thought we were very good in the first half and playing against a very good side in Scotland," Farrell said. "We know that they're a threat with the ball in hand and obviously we got off to a nice start.

"But they threw everything but the kitchen sink at us for a ten-minute spell and how we kept them out was remarkable defence and how we used that momentum that we got from our defence to get down the other end and were clinical with a few chances that we had and ended up on the right side of the scoreboard with the bonus point at half-time was a dream first half.

"But it's what's been building and it's