Portugal Colonial - Doris says Six Nations rout of England is sparking Irish 'belief'

Amid talk they are an ageing side on the slide, Ireland overwhelmed England 42-21 for their biggest margin of victory at Twickenham.

The morale-boosting display, featuring five tries, was just what Ireland needed after an emphatic first-round loss to champions France and an unconvincing win over Italy that followed high-profile defeats during November's Autumn International campaign.

"I spoke about Paris being a reference point where hopefully we'll see a pretty steep incline in terms of performances," said Doris.

"I think this will now be a reference point that we look back on as a proper good performance that's given us a lot of belief."

The No 8, speaking after a success that eclipsed Ireland's previous record Twickenham triumph, a 32-15 win in 2022, added: "At the core of what we're doing in training, in camp, there has been belief still, and I think you saw some of that through how we played.

"It was just an unbelievable atmosphere. You talk about inspiring the nation and getting the Irish people behind us and hopefully that brought both the people here and at home a bit of joy."

- 'Caelan at his best' -

Doris led from the front in a match featuring several fine individual displays from his side, with Ireland coach Andy Farrell saying of his skipper: "I thought he had his best game in a good while. He was immense in his carry. That's Caelan at his best.

"How he led from the front and got us over the gain-line was outstanding, but we could 100 percent have two minutes on every single person out there."

Ireland had the game all but won at 22-7 come half-time following tries from man-of-the-match Jamison Gibson-Park, Robert Baloucoune and replacement back Tommy O'Brien.

Dan Sheehan and Jamie Osborne crossed England's try-line after the interval, with fly-half Jack Crowley landing four conversions and three penalties for a match haul of 17 points after being selected ahead of Sam Prendergast.

"It looked like we were hunting people down throughout the game," said former England international Farrell.

"It's one thing going up with a good start and getting the bonus point there as far as four tries is concerned, but how we kick-chased, how we kept hunting down the breakdown, all that type of stuff, it shows that that's a proper performance where there's no egos."

Following the tournament's rest week, Ireland conclude the Six Nations with successive home clashes against Wales and Scotland next month as they bid to win the Triple Crown and keep pace with France.

"What will be, will be," said Farrell of a possible Ireland title bid.

"We've got a fallow week and we'll review the start of the competition and seeing how much we've grown.

"The important part for us is to keep doing that in the last two weeks. What will be, will be, really."

X.M.Francisco--PC