Caelan Doris says Ireland will be keeping a close eye on proceedings this weekend at BT Murrayfield as Andy Farrell’s men prepare for their Round 5 clash against France.
Following the postponement of Ireland v Italy, Farrell has had an extra week to prepare his side for a potentially all-important contest next week in Paris.
Doris highlighted the half-back duo of Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack as “especially dangerous” but insists they have threats across the squad.
“Obviously they’ve gone very well over the last few games,” said the Leinster man to IRFU TV.
“We’ll have another opportunity to get a look at them this weekend. They have threats all through their team, both in their pack and back line.
“The half-back partnership in Dupont and Ntamack are especially dangerous, so we’ll be watching the Scotland game closely and look forward to going up against them next week.”
Doris’ Ireland debut against Scotland only lasted four minutes before he was unfortunately forced off injured but he returned to make a substitute appearance at Twickenham in Round 3.
While the Dubliner is eager for more Guinness Six Nations action, he has had to make do with training sessions against Ireland’s Under-20s outfit, who are currently unbeaten in their campaign.
“It’s always fun coming up against the Under-20s,” continued Doris.
“They have performed very well over their first couple of games and will probably be disappointed not to play Italy as well. But it was a good opportunity for us to have a hit out.
“Obviously with the match on the weekend before called off we’ve had an opportunity for an extra bit of conditioning and extra hit out. So we’ve had a good two days.
“It is strange [having an additional week of] but it’s out of our control, I guess. The benefit of it is getting that extra week of preparation and getting our detail down this week and hitting the ground running next week.”
As to what Doris will get up to on a rare weekend off, the No.8 revealed he is likely to tune to the action like the rest of us.
He said: “Probably kick my feet up and watch the other games and relax. It’s been a tough week here!”
