Steve Borthwick reduced the importance of his conflict with Andy Farrell during England’s thrilling 23-22 victory over Ireland and emphasized that he had ‘great respect’ for his former Saracens team-mate.
Ireland, the current champions, seemed to be nearing their fourth consecutive win after James Lowe scored his second try of the match to give the visitors a two-point lead with seven minutes remaining. Six Nations But Marcus Smith had different plans, keeping calm to kick a last-minute drop-goal through the posts to send the Twickenham crowd into a frenzy as England dashed Ireland’s hopes of achieving a second successive Grand Slam.
Tensions seemed to escalate at the midway point as Ireland held a 12-8 lead over England, with Borthwick and Farrell involved in a heated argument on the sidelines.
The two head coaches continued their discussion as they walked towards the dressing rooms and Lawrence Dallaglio suggested that the Ireland boss seemed to be ‘unsettled about something’ on ITV’s commentary of the game.
‘It’s a real Test match. It hasn’t been a particularly dirty Test match, we haven’t had any foul play, but obviously Andy Farrell is unsettled about something,’ the 2003 World Cup hero said.
‘But that happens every week in Wigan for him I think!’
During his post-match press conference, Borthwick refused to elaborate on the details of the clash and reminded reporters that he and Farrell ‘go back a long way’.
‘Absolutely fine. Andy and I have known each other for a long time, we played alongside each other for
, we both represented England at the 2007 England, so we go back a long way,’ the England head coach said. World Cup‘What he has done with that Ireland team is just incredible. Very special.
‘They are an incredible team and I thought today [Saturday] was a very special Test match.
‘They are an incredible team and I thought today [Saturday] was a very special Test match.
‘It’s between Andy and I. I know people want to read into things like that, but I think Andy and I have a very good relationship. We were co-captains together at Saracens as players, we coached together on the Lions in 2017.
‘I have great respect for him and what he has done with that team. Which, as I say, is a phenomenal team.’
Farrell laughed off his disagreement with Borthwick and praised England on their performance, stating that the hosts fully ‘deserved’ the victory.
Asked to elaborate on what was said during the clash, Farrell joked: ‘Oh, just: “How are you doing, Steve? Nice to see you again, haven’t spoken to you for a long time”.
‘All good.’
The Ireland head coach added: ‘To cut a long story short, I actually thought England deserved to win.
‘We fought back unbelievably well against the run of play sometimes. Certainly coming back in at half-time like that. And again in the second half, finding a way to get ourselves in front.
'I believed England should win because of the pressure they created. Congratulations to them. Look at the talented players they have.'
'When you're coming off a loss, it tends to focus the mind a little – hopefully it does for us next week.'
'We always prepare for every game expecting everyone to be at their best.'
'I thought they were excellent tonight, they were physical, they were challenging on the gain line and played a good style of rugby too.'
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
.
