Caelan Doris: 'We want to get the best out of the fans and supporters by how we play and by showing desire'

RECREATING ATMOSPHERE: Caelan Doris wants to create an atmosphere for Irish supporters by showing more passion on the field. Picture: ©INPHO/Nick Elliott

From a lunchtime kick-off in the autumn sun to a stormy Saturday night under the lights, Ireland’s Quilter Nations Series is set to take a step up in intensity when Joe Schmidt’s Australia visit a sold-out Aviva Stadium.

Two evenings on from the drama of a FIFA World Cup qualifier victory for the Republic of Ireland over Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal, Caelan Doris wants to deliver the same levels of passion and energy as his team bids to spark a full house and their November Test window into life, whatever the conditions.

It will need a significant gear shift from the last two weeks’ performances, however, to overcome a Wallabies side that has pushed Ireland all the way in their recent visits to Dublin and which has continued to make strides under former Irish boss Schmidt throughout 2025, despite back-to-back defeats to England and Italy in their last two outings. 

Captain Doris believes those losses will make Australia even more dangerous as opponents, while within the Ireland squad there is now an even greater understanding of what makes the men in green and gold tick after such a heavy British & Irish Lions representation in the 2-1 series victory over the Wallabies this past summer.

“The guys who were over there have a pretty in-depth understanding of how they play, of what they want to do, of their individuals. So that has been helpful this week,” Doris said.

“It's been mentioned in the quality of Australia. You look at their last couple of games and they've obviously had back-to-back defeats. If you go back a little bit earlier, they've beaten Argentina, they've beaten South Africa, they've beaten the Lions.

“So that's been mentioned in terms of properly respecting them and the quality that they'll bring and the awareness that there's going to be a bit of a reaction from them this weekend. There's going to be a lot of hunger.

“They're coming towards the end of a long season and they're going to want to finish strongly. So, it’s matching and going beyond that for us.” 

Having a full Aviva Stadium crowd onside and engaged in that objective is paramount for Doris, who switches from No.8 to openside flanker on Saturday in a side showing nine changes and two positional switches from the 41-10 win over Japan.

“We want to get the best out of the fans and supporters by how we play and by showing desire,” he said, having taken inspiration from his footballing counterparts in the same stadium on Thursday night.

“There was good excitement watching it. It was class. The atmosphere here was unbelievable and we'll be looking for something similar tomorrow.

“I think it comes when there's passion in how they're playing. You could see there was no fear really in how they played, they just kept attacking and were quite cohesive in that. There was a nice reaction when Ronaldo got sent off as well. It was class and very cool to watch.” 

Inspiration, he added, came through, “how they play, the knock-on reaction they can have with the supporters and the passion you see. So, it's a late kick off for us tomorrow night and hopefully we can get them going.” 

Having Mack Hansen play start at full-back for the first time is a welcome selection in that regard, with head coach Andy Farrell keen for the Australian-born Connacht wing to pick up where he left off before the foot injury which ended his Lions involvement before the Test series. Always a playmaker at heart, Hansen’s involvements off his customary right wing suggest he can bring even more x-factor to the party from full-back while a first start in just his third Test appearance for 22-year-old prop Paddy McCarthy should also bring impetus if he can match his try-scoring and scrummaging impact off the bench against Japan, though the expected conditions and a greasy ball suggest a more direct approach from Ireland than was seen in patches last weekend.

“Set-piece, territory, discipline, all become a little bit more important,” Doris said on Friday. “Scoreboard pressure, taking points early, that kind of thing is more important, but also just the intensity and the enjoyment of getting properly stuck in as a forward pack in particular.

“I mean the way Australia play, they have the ability through their backs to swing together and take opportunities, but also they play similar to France, that tight game with their forwards pop passing from the breakdown. So, regardless of the weather, that's going to be a big focus point for our defence that we need to get right.” 

After an underwhelming start to November, and with world champions South Africa next up in Dublin seven days later, there could not be a better time for Ireland to start upping their game.

IRELAND: M Hansen (Connacht); T O'Brien (Leinster), R Henshaw (Leinster), S McCloskey (Ulster), J Lowe (Leinster); S Prendergast (Leinster), J Gibson-Park (Leinster); P McCarthy (Leinster), D Sheehan (Leinster), T Furlong (Leinster); J Ryan (Leinster), T Beirne (Munster); R Baird (Leinster), C Doris (Leinster) – captain, J Conan (Leinster).

Replacements: R Kelleher (Leinster), A Porter (Leinster), T Clarkson (Leinster), N Timoney (Ulster), C Prendergast (Connacht), C Casey (Munster), J Crowley (Munster), B Aki (Connacht).

AUSTRALIA: M Jorgensen (Waratahs); F Daugunu (Reds), J-A Suaalii (Waratahs), L Ikitau (Exeter Chiefs), H Potter (Western Force); J O’Connor (Leicester Tigers), J Gordon (Waratahs); A Bell (Waratahs), M Faessler (Reds), A Alaalatoa (Brumbies); J Williams (Western Force), T Hooper (Brumbies); R Valetini (Brumbies), F McReight (Reds), H Wilson (Reds) – captain.

Replacements: B Pollard (Brumbies), T Robertson (Western Force), Z Nonggorr (Reds), N Frost (Brumbies), C Tizzano (Western Force), R Lonergan (Brumbies), T Edmed (Brumbies), A Kellaway (Waratahs).

Referee: Karl Dickson (England)