‘We Definitely Respect Them And How They Play’ – Caelan Doris On Fiji

The Ireland captain is looking forward to facing a ‘physical’ and ‘confident’ Fiji in the Autumn Nations Series clash at Aviva Stadium on Saturday afternoon (kick off 3.10pm with coverage on Virgin Media and TNT Sport).

Ireland v Fiji – Coming To The Match? All You Need To Know

Doris played against tomorrow’s visitors back when Ireland beat them 35-17 in 2022, a match he remembers well, “I mean we definitely respect them, how they play. The two things you look at are their pace and their skillset, the way they throw the ball around, but also they’re a very powerful team.

“It’s going to be a very physical game. I remember the one a couple of years back  for how physical it was. It’s going to be the same tomorrow and I’m looking forward to the challenge of that.

“I think they’ll probably be confident based off a couple of their results and how they’ve gone against Wales and Spain”

Asked about the changes to the team – two new caps in Cormac Izuchukwu and Gus McCarthy as well as starts for Sam Prendergast and Craig Casey and the return of Jacob Stockdale, the captain said, “When we’re training, we’re not training the opposition necessarily, we’re training to build the right habits,” said the 26-year-old.

“So the whole group are working towards the same goal and regardless of who’s in, you’re expected to perform to a certain level.

“There’s a lot of belief within our camp still. We feel we have the right people showing us the way and there’s excitement about what we can do.”

Finally on the topic of Ireland’s penalty count in recent matches Doris said, “The discipline has obviously been talked about a lot and it’s been an area that has been very good for us historically, so we’re looking forward to getting back on track there tomorrow.”