Eire captain Caelan Doris expects his facet to face the “ultimate test” after they launch their bid for an unprecedented third successive Six Nations title towards England in Dublin on Saturday.
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The Irish have received 4 of the previous 5 conferences with their previous rivals and England go into the sport on the again of a poor 2024, throughout which they misplaced seven out of 12 Checks.
However a uncommon England spotlight final yr got here after they denied Eire a Grand Slam with an exhilarating 23-22 win at Twickenham within the fourth spherical of the Six Nations.
“It’s always the ultimate test coming up against these guys ,” Doris stated at Lansdowne Highway on Friday.
“There’s a rich history and a massive rivalry there over the last number of years.
“We would had a reasonably good run , fourth spherical stepping into over there and there was quite a lot of perception. We additionally revered them massively and knew that there was a giant efficiency brewing from them.
“They obviously hadn’t gone so well at that point but you look back six months prior to that and they’re in a World Cup semi-final.”
England misplaced three Checks in a row at Twickenham in November however their defeats by New Zealand and Australia have been desperately shut affairs, with 26-year-old Leinster No.8 Doris braced for a gruelling contest towards Steve Borthwick’s males.
“It’s similar now in that they’ve been on the wrong side of some of their results in the autumn but we have massive respect for them as a team and the quality in their squad,” he stated.
“They are always very abrasive, confrontational, strong set-piece, very good line-out and maul and they maul more than most teams. Starting off here in Dublin against England, it doesn’t get much better or bigger than this.”
Interim Eire coach Simon Easterby has chosen the 21-year-old Sam Prendergast at fly-half as a substitute of Jack Crowley in his first match deputising for Andy Farrell, now on secondment to the British and Irish Lions forward of the mixed facet’s tour of Australia.
Prendergast made his Check debut as a alternative in Eire’s win towards Argentina in November earlier than beginning the following victories over Fiji and Australia.
“It’s been a good ride for him and he’s a very confident guy and loves controlling the forwards, loves playing what’s in front of him, so there’s a lot of faith in him,” stated Doris of his Leinster team-mate.
No facet have received three consecutive Six Nations titles in a row because the competitors was expanded 25 years in the past and Doris, who succeeded Peter O’Mahony as Eire captain forward of the November marketing campaign, is nicely conscious of the prize at stake.
“We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, definitely, but we also realise that getting this weekend right is a crucial step if we want to go and do something special like that,” he stated.
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