Farrell reveals training ‘error’ led to huge McCloskey moment vs England

Hats off to Andy Farrell and Ireland

Stuart McCloskey's chase down of Marcus Smith, after the England back intercepted a pass in his own half, has already become an iconic moment in Irish rugby.

It showed incredible hunger, given that Ireland were already assured of victory, from a player completely on top of his game.

But such moments, as Andy Farrell explained, do not come out of the blue, and are built in training and through preparation.

As pointed out by journalist Murray Kinsella, the head coach revealed that McCloskey had failed in his tracking back duties at training, but rectified this in the next session.

Farrell said: “Because he didn't do that on Tuesday [in training] and we highlighted it. He did it on Wednesday.

"You prepare properly and it stands you. Those types of things matter more than scoring tries."

Farrell added: "I think the strength of any team should be stronger than any individual's belief of what they think they can get to.

"That's what a proper team is. So therefore, the potential in the squad is huge. I believe that.

"And you guys can say it's ageing, or we're missing people and they're injured and all that type of stuff, but that doesn't matter neither as long as we're pushing forward and doing ourselves proud."