“I’m in a way better place than this time last year." - Caelan Doris

It may surprise many to learn that a player who has build a formidable presence in the Irish has, to date, just 12 caps to his name. 

Flanker Caelan Doris has proved to be a significant influence in a short space of time with regard to the green jersey and hopes to hit the ground running in this year’s Six Nations after being required to step away from the tournament last year due to concussion protocols. 

“I’m in a way better place than this time last year, I’m much more comfortable with it all,” he said.  

I’ve had a pretty clean season so far this year and, yeah, hopefully that will continue, touch wood. 

“Having those (cognitive) tests definitely helps with that, it gives me peace of mind. It’s still sometimes there but no, it’s much less than it was last year.” 

The Irish are expected to grab the tournament by the scruff of the neck after their great form in the Autumn Nations Series which saw them put Japan, Argentina and the All Blacks away. 

“The understanding of the game plan is huge for us, I think that’s probably where we evolved most from the Six Nations last year to November, the sort of connections out the back shapes and understanding when we might be playing out the back of a shape, being ready and prepared for that,” Doris added. 

“I think we’ve come on a fair bit in that but it’s still an evolving process and we still need to get better at reading each other’s cues and being ready to play front door and back door. 

“So there’s lots of micro-detail around both attack and D and we’ll be looking to keep evolving. 

“You always talk about the perfect game, and it’s hard to even imagine what that looks like. 

“Some of the tries we scored throughout November were pretty good ones, and we think we can up it another gear and bring more of that.   

“We know that there is still a lot more in us. Looking back at some of the games, yeah, we played well, but there are so many opportunities to get better and so many areas for growth. So continuing to develop and evolve, and not letting any complacency set in is important.” 

Ireland face Wales in Dublin this Saturday.