Fogarty’s principal recollection from the game is how coach Farrell seemed to be revelling in the challenge of it all.
“We came in at half-time and I was trying to figure it out in my mind.
“And I walked into Andy and he just goes, ‘this is brilliant’. And he was smiling and he was like way happier in the chaos of what was happening.”
Fogarty says he and fellow coach Paul O’Connell weren’t enjoying the predicament quite so much.
“[I was thinking] Have I spent enough time with Cian [at half-time]?
“There was that little bit of that from me and from Paul. Paul isn’t as cool as you might think.”
However, the Irish responded to the adversity by holding Scotland scoreless in the second half as tries from James Lowe and Jack Conan completed a 22-8 victory.
A week later, the 29-16 victory over England sealed Ireland’s fourth Grand Slam.
“We had a good plan but it was more the playing group. The playing group took any information, were calm enough to go out there and do what an Irish player does and be competitive and stay in the moment.”
