Ferguson said: "That was massive and more important than the France game because there's a lot more pressure on us now. We dealt with that brilliantly.

"The pressure is on us to qualify but the guys are enjoying that and you can see it in the performances.

"It's always good to have pressure because it brings out the best in players. But it's a very different kind of pressure from what we had a few years ago when we were under the cosh for losing games.

"People are expecting us to win now and I'm sure the guys will rise to it."