Ireland v England: ‘Lions selection brings that extra factor’ – Caelan Doris

Ireland won three of their four matches during the international window in November, a defeat by New Zealand the sole aberation as they went on to defeat Argentina, Fiji and Australia.

“If you look at the autumn, some results good, some not so good, the same with performances. So it feels like there’s a tonne of room for growth and we want to chase that down together,” added Easterby.

“If we can play to our potential I’m sure we can beat the other teams for sure.”

Ireland will have Simon Easterby in interim charge for the duration of the Six Nations as regular head coach Andy Farrell prepares for his role leading the Lions this summer.

Easterby has been an assistant coach with Ireland since 2014.

“I think it will be a seamless transition and there’s a lot of faith in him [Easterby] to do a great job,” enthused Doris. There’s a lot of continuity within the squad, within the management, within the environment, within the plans, and the way we want to play.

“I don’t think much will change. Si has been unbelievable for us, has been around as a forwards coach and more recently as a defensive one and has a lot of respect in the group and is very well liked by the players.”