Monday 19 November 2018 19:57, UK
Iain Henderson believes defence coach Andy Farrell deserves huge credit for his role in Ireland’s victory over New Zealand.
Ireland prevented the All Blacks from scoring a try in their 16-9 victory on Saturday - a feat which has been achieved just six times in 243 Tests this century.
It is the second time in 17 months a team whose defence has been masterminded by Farrell has achieved it, with the British and Irish Lions also managing to keep the All Blacks from crossing the try-line in the second Test of their drawn 2017 series.
"Andy has a really good defensive strategy in place, and I think that's something that I am sure he will be very proud of, his achievement at the weekend," said Ulster lock Henderson, who came on as a second half replacement.
"We will take great confidence from that and look forward to being challenged again by big teams of a similar standard.
"That is the only time you do get tested is when you are up against one of your big Test matches when you have the quality of opposition trying to do that to you.
"He (Farrell) will be very pleased with how the weekend went, and he will be pleased with all the lads who put in the hard work to make his good work come to fruition.
"That is a testament to how good a coach he is and how well he gets all the boys singing off the same hymn sheet."
Ireland backed up their win against the All Blacks in Chicago two years ago by beating them on home soil for the first time with wing Jacob Stockdale's try proving to be the decisive score.
The result underlines Ireland's status as general contenders for next year's World Cup.
"Having never beaten them in Dublin, it was in the back of our minds," said Henderson. "To overcome that was the most satisfying thing in my mind.
"People might say 'okay, they won in Chicago, it was a one-off, almost'. But to be able to back it up again shows that we are still learning, still getting better and learning from past performances.
"Being able to beat New Zealand again gives us reassurance that we are continuing to better ourselves.
"Internally, we know the quality of players we've got, we know the quality of training and quality of coaches we have, and everything that is done around us is done to the highest standard possible.
"Everyone's trying to be the best, everyone's striving to meet expectations. A win like that at the weekend is a bit of a pay-day, giving everyone a bit of thanks for all the effort that has been put in."
