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Paul O'Connell savoured the record 43-13 victory over England at Croke Park and admitted it was relief that Ireland had risen to the occasion.
The giant lock, who took the man-of-the-match award, felt Eddie O'Sullivan's men had more than made up for letting victory slip through their fingers against France on their first appearance at the cathedral of Gaelic games.
'We talked about it last week and we wanted to do the occasion justice,' O'Connell told BBC1.
'Two weeks ago we didn't but today we did.
'It was a very good performance. There were a few mistakes but overall it was great.
'We played clever rugby and got points on the board, be it penalties or tries.'
Ireland led 23-3 at half-time with converted tries from Girvan Dempsey and David Wallace and three Ronan O'Gara penalties to a solitary Jonny Wilkinson penalty.
England rallied briefly with a converted try from debut-making Harlequins winger David Strettle and a second Wilkinson penalty but the Irish quickly regained control and further tries from Shane Horgan and replacement scrum-half Isaac Boss rubbed salt into English wounds.
'We had a bad period at the start of the second half, which woke us up, but we dominated the rest of the half,' said O'Connell.
The Irish pack laid the foundations for victory and O'Connell led the way with a towering performance, particularly in the lineout.
'We are all working our socks off in the pack and the harder you work the easier it is to find your form,' he added. 'With the whole pack working so hard it was enjoyable to play out there today.'
