'Really nice feeling' - What Declan Rice said in the tunnel after scoring in England's victory over the Republic of Ireland & refusing to celebrate

The Arsenal midfielder earned three senior international caps for Ireland in 2018, having represented them at youth level from U17. He switched allegiance to England – the country of his birth – in 2019 and has gone on to make 59 appearances for the Three Lions.

Rice found the target in the most recent of those, as he put England on their way to a 2-0 UEFA Nations League win at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Jack Grealish – another of those to have defected from Ireland to England - netted the other goal.

Grealish did celebrate, but Rice was apologetic after finding the back of the net. While he favoured a respectful reaction, rather than an emotional one, the 25-year-old told England’s official media team when making his way down the tunnel and back to the dressing room: “I've not watched it back yet but I've heard it's a really good finish - the boys have been telling me. I've made up the yards and ran from back to front. It's something I'm really strong and good at, and for it to fall to me in the box… if you don't make up those yards then you don't score. To set up one and then score for Jack, it was a really nice feeling to be honest.”

England will be back in action on Tuesday – with interim coach Lee Carsley at the helm – when facing Finland at Wembley. Rice added on returning to the international arena after suffering more European Championship heartache over the summer: “It's good to be back. Refreshing this week, it's been really, really positive. Let's keep building – it's going to be really good to be back at Wembley. Finland will be a tough test but we'll be ready, and we're ready to go again.”