What they said on Six Nations' Super Saturday
SPOTLIGHT: We take a look at who said what after the final round of the Six Nations and Ireland was crowned the champions.
Key quotes from the fifth and final round of the Six Nations on Saturday:
Ireland 17 Scotland 13
“It was a war of attrition. I am delighted for the lads as back-to-back titles is very difficult to achieve.”
– Ireland coach Andy Farrell
“It’s pretty incredible, especially two years in a row. It was tough going with two tough teams going at it. Our backs were against the wall a bit so I’m unbelievably proud of the boys.”
–Ireland scrumhalf and Man of the Match Jamison Gibson-Park
“We need to get a lot better mentally for next year’s campaign because we can’t afford to be up and down. We will get better, but it’s tough.”
– Scotland co-captain Finn Russell
France 33 England 31
“This is a difficult passage of time for us, which is normal in the cycle of a team. This is not the end of the Six Nations, but the beginning of something else”.
– France coach Fabien Galthie
“There’s a bit of emotion because it wasn’t an easy Six Nations and to win like that in the final match rewards the team.”
– France flyhalf Thomas Ramos
“We have shown in the last two weeks we are competing with the top four teams again. We don’t want to just compete we want to win and this is a step in the right direction.”
– England coach Steve Borthwick
“I felt like we put France under a lot of pressure, but fair play to them they showed their class. The endeavour to go out there, have a crack and play with a smile on our faces, I thought the boys did that. I have loved the last seven weeks.”
– England captain Jamie George
Wales 21 Italy 24
“Two games doesn’t define a team, we said that after the World Cup and we’ll say it now. We still have to be more consistent in what we’re doing and be competitive with every single team in the tournament and that’s what we need to do.”
– Italy captain Michele Lamaro
“We are so happy we worked so hard for this, we are happy with the Italian movement.”
– Italy centre and Man of the Match Ignacio Brex
“We’ve been working hard for five months and the first thing we needed to do was to redefine our identity to make Italy different from the other teams.”
– Italy coach Gonzalo Quesada
“We’re gutted and we are hurting as players and coaches — and I know the fans are hurting.”
– Wales coach Warren Gatland
“If you want me to resign, I’m quite happy to do that.”
– Gatland told Welsh Rugby Union chief executive Abi Tierney
“I’m really excited about this group with some youngsters who will learn about this experience and simplifying the game to try and get on the front foot which will help us.”
– Gatland
“It’s a feeling of complete disappointment. No disrespect to Italy but as a playing group we want to win those games and beat those teams. It’s just severely disappointing.”
– Wales captain Dafydd Jenkins
