Caelan Doris is confident he will continue to grow into the role of Ireland captain after ending a challenging month with a 22-19 comeback win over Australia.
Doris was appointed to the position by head coach Andy Farrell ahead of the Autumn Nations Series and has been touted as a potential British and Irish Lions skipper for next summer's three-Test tour against the Wallabies.
The 26-year-old claimed the second of Ireland’s three tries and was named man of the match on Saturday as the hosts scraped success over Joe Schmidt’s side to add to victories over Argentina and Fiji following a dispiriting defeat to New Zealand at the start of November.
"From an individual point of view, the more opportunities you get to do it, the more comfortable you become with the extra responsibilities," said Doris.
"I feel that there has been some growth there in the last number of weeks. I’m sure if I get to do it again, I’ll continue to grow. I’m confident in that."
Ireland trailed for most of an engrossing encounter with the Wallabies before Gus McCarthy’s 73rd-minute try set them on course for victory in Andy Farrell’s final match before his Lions sabbatical.
Doris added to a first-half score from Josh van der Flier, while fly-halves Sam Prendergast and Jack Crowley contributed five and two points respectively as the home team overturned a 13-5 half-time deficit at the Aviva Stadium.
"I think there's been growth from the first week"
World player of the year nominee Doris, who replaced Peter O’Mahony as captain and appears to be the long-term successor to the retired Johnny Sexton, feels Ireland can regard an inconsistent autumn as a success.
"I think so, I think there’s been growth from the first week," said Doris, who deputised for O’Mahony as
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