SIMON EASTERBY’S wife revealed Ireland’s win over Wales was “the most stressful 80 minutes of my year”.
Sarra Elgan Rees, who is married to Easterby and is the daughter of former Wales and Lions star Elgan Rees, is a Welsh TV journalist.
It means that, as the Boys in Green were running out 27-18 winners in Cardiff on Saturday, she was covering the game on the tele
The consequence on that dichotomy was on display when she posted a photo of herself at work ahead of kick-off to Instagram.
She said: “Wales v Ireland ……Genuinely the most stressful 80 mins of my year”
Fans made light of the conflicted loyalties in the comments, with one joking: “Breakfast might have been a bit awkward”
A second asked: “Did you congratulate your husband” while a third said: “Super game ,difficult when they play in your house but maybe today one that whole house happy with”
A fourth commented: “We were thinking of you in our house today. Emotional rollercoaster?”
And a fifth said: “Brilliant performance by Wales !! Ireland just had a better bench . Well done Simon !! Stressful afternoon for both of you”
Victory on Saturday means Ireland could be one win away from a third Six Nations in a row, and are two wins away from a second Grand Slam in three years.
Either achievement will be a first for Easterby, who is in interim charge of Ireland while Andy Farrell is on secondment to take over the British & Irish Lions for the summer tour of Australia.
They will face perhaps their staunchest task on March 8 when they welcome France to the Aviva Stadium.
And he said all focus is now on France in a fortnight and a win to move a step closer to a third successive Championship, and a game closer to a Grand Slam.
He said: “We would have certainly taken this a few weeks back.
“The mark of this group, the players in particular, they always want to get better and keep striving to chase down things which maybe other teams can’t do.
“That’s going to continue to drive the team over the next few weeks towards France.”
But he believes how Ireland won a hard fought game will now stand to them.
He added: “Getting a result in very different circumstances to when we played Scotland and the home game against England means we keep building the experiences
“Building those experiences for players, playing in the Millennium Stadium with the roof closed…
“The third game of a Six Nations where everything is probably against the team you’re playing against, and then we come out and get a result like that.
“That’s exactly what we are trying to do all the time.”
