Caelan Doris: England present 'ultimate test' in Six Nations opener

Captain Caelan Doris is braced for the "ultimate test" when Ireland begin their quest for an unprecedented third successive Guinness Six Nations title against rivals England.

The back-to-back champions are pre-tournament favourites and have won four of the past five meetings between the sides ahead of Saturday evening's clash in at Aviva Stadium.

England – World Cup semi-finalists in 2023 – lost seven of 12 Tests in 2024 and are bidding to ease pressure on head coach Steve Borthwick by springing a surprise following an unsuccessful autumn.

Despite that unconvincing record, Borthwick’s men ultimately denied Ireland consecutive Grand Slams thanks to a last-gasp 23-22 Twickenham win in round four of last year’s championship.

"It’s always the ultimate test coming up against these guys," said Doris.

"There’s a rich history and a massive rivalry there over the last number of years.

"We’d had a pretty good run [last year], fourth round going in over there and there was a lot of belief, we also respected them massively and knew that there was a big performance 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.

"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.

"It’s going to be a big battle for us again tomorrow. They are always very abrasive, confrontational, strong set piece, very good lineout 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."

In his first selection standing in for Andy Farrell as head coach, interim boss Simon