Grand Slam winner Andy Farrell spoke of "bigger fish to try" after landing his first major silverware as Ireland head coach.
Farrell admitted to riding a wave of different emotions after watching his side complete the clean sweep with their 29-16 victory over England at the Aviva Stadium.
“I don’t know whether to laugh or cry or be a bit sad," he said. "I don’t know. It’s a weird feeling at this moment in time.
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"I’m just elated for the boys to get it over the line because it meant so much to them, especially being here at home. Only the fourth one in Irish history and the first one at home (in Dublin).
"It’s a special occasion, a special weekend outside of our hotel. We felt a duty that we couldn’t let people down and I would say there is a sense of relief that we got the job done.
"Immensely proud. Grand Slams are not just won on nights like this, they are won over not just the eight-week period but the time we have been together and building to this. I’m just glad that we got the job done.”
Farrell said the memory of the achievement would stay with all those involved, the players, coaches and support staff, "forever", because of togetherness of the group and what they have gone through over the past couple of months.
This win was Ireland's 10th on the spin and, during this five-game campaign, the squad have had to deal with a myriad of challenges.
Last week it was overcoming the loss of their two hookers and four starting forwards to injury by the 49th minute, this week it was overcoming the anxiety of a finals day to get over the line.
"We get to the final day because we have earned the right to be here," said Farrell.
"We've relished it, really, and come out the other side. You look at all of the games, they have had all sorts of stuff going on but we always found a way and again today.
"We were disappointed at half-time (with Ireland leading 10-9) but again we found a way. We will analyse that performance and pull it apart again but the reality is that it is a bonus-point win against a good side that was really looking to spoil the party for themselves.
"Fair play to England, I thought they were courageous in how they went about the game. They made it unbelievably tough but this Six Nations will be remembered for us as one where we went through a lot.
"I think we went through 47, 48 players in camp and 30-odd of those took the field. All of them are in the dressing-room there and that means more to us than anything.”
The focus soon enough will shift to Ireland's World Cup hopes and, as the number one ranked side in the world, the newly-crowned Six Nations champions will have the spotlight on them when the warm-up games start in August.
"I’ve just been saying to Johnny (Sexton) that there is bigger fish to fry than this, you know," Farrell remarked.
"So, we are on to the World Cup…no, we are just going to enjoy this next 48 hours, 100%.
"We are a good side that has nowhere near reached its potential. I’ve been saying over the last couple of weeks that’s what we have been striving to do.
"Like Johnny said, we’ll get a few people back to compete, train hard. Everyone is going to get better in the summer when we get to spend more time together.
"We expect our side, when we get to the first game in the World Cup to be a lot better than what we are now and that’s the reality.
Farrell added: "I’m just so glad for the group because it's fitting for the group. Look at the year we have had, to finish it off like that is so deserving in so many ways.
"Garry Ringrose getting his 50th cap last week. He couldn’t receive his 50th cap so we’ve just given it to him now in the changing room and Josh van der Flier, it's his 50th as well today and what a season he's had - what a fitting moment it is to get it on such an occasion as that.
For captain Johnny here to finish his Six Nations campaign, he has been saying all week this is what dreams are made of.
"It doesn’t come around that often and it is unbelievably fitting, in my opinion, that the best player to play for Ireland is able to sign off on a Grand Slam on St Patrick’s Day in front of his own crowd.
"There’s a lot of stars that have aligned over the last eight weeks that have come together and accumulated into this evening."
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