Andy Farrell warns that England will be out to spoil Ireland's Grand Slam party.
But he believes his team will be ready after what he described as the best game he has been involved in.
Since taking over as head coach, Farrell has preached the need for Ireland to be ready for any challenge and there were plenty thrown at them in Murrayfield as forwards dropped like flies, including his hookers Dan Sheehan and Rónan Kelleher.
READ MORE: "One of Irish Rugby's most special days" Jack Conan on victory over Scotland
He lost his world class no 8 Caelan Doris after 13 minutes, Iain Henderson after 24 and then Garry Ringrose to a nasty head injury with eight minutes left.
But with Josh van der Flier standing in as a lineout thrower and Cian Healy scrumming down in the middle of the front row, and Tadhg Furlong and Jamison Gibson-Park playing for the first time in this Six Nations after injury, Ireland still prevailed.
"Did they surprise me? Probably not," said Farrell. "It was immense, the character.
"It wasn't champagne rugby, but in terms of character, fight and want for each other - that's the best game I've been involved in.
"If you'd have seen us at half-time, honestly you'd have laughed because all the lads were laughing.
"It was organised chaos, we didn't know what was happening until the last second about whether Rónan was coming back on.
"We made half a plan with Cian going to scrummage, because he's good at that and that paid off for us.
"Josh throwing in, well what can't he do? He took up golf three years ago and he's in single figures on his handicap.
"I just thought for somebody like Garry on his 50th cap, that we're able to do a special performance with all the controversy.
"Someone like Garry deserves something like that to look back on."
The 22-7 victory sets up a grandstand Aviva Stadium finish against an England side that coughed up over 50 points to France in a record Twickenham defeat on Saturday.
"They will certainly be hurting and, I mean, it's a perfect opportunity to come and spoil the party," said Farrell.
"That's the reality, so that will be a massive motivation for them.
"Is that bigger motivation than what we're going to experience playing at home for our Grand Slam game on St Patrick's weekend? We'll see.
"It will mean everything because I feel that the group are ready for that.
"But those words mean nothing over the next five or six days because we've got to go out there and perform against what's going to be a very motivated England side.
"So we will need to be at our best. That's what we expect of each other."
Farrell hopes that Doris and Sheehan will be fit for duty and, with a six day turnaround, Ireland have to box clever to be ready for next Saturday.
"Yeah, we’re on a plane tonight so there’ll be much celebrating, we’ll enjoy each other’s company tonight flying back and then straight back into Carton House," he commented.
"We’ll recover properly tomorrow and then a few down days to make sure that we get our legs back and then we’ll have a hit-out or two and we’ll get our plan together and go again.
“It is what dreams are made of, like Johnny was saying, to play England at home to earn the right to take it to the last weekend, on Paddy’s weekend, it doesn’t get any better than that.
"So we need to get across our work early and make sure that we’re in the right space come Tuesday or Wednesday for training.”
READ NEXT:
Ireland's Grand Slam novices urged by Johnny Sexton to embrace their golden opportunity
Henry de Bromhead heads to Cheltenham Festival with different outlook following death of son Jack
Dublin can overcome player turnover to make a mark this year, insists Ronan Hayes
Rachael Blackmore hungry for more success as Cheltenham edges closer
Cheltenham Festival Quiz: Test your knowledge of the famous meeting
Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email alerts
