Caelan Doris: Ireland determined to end Six Nations with best performance

Captain Caelan Doris insisted there is no sense of anti-climax in the Ireland camp as they fight to keep alive their scant hopes of Six Nations glory against Italy.

Simon Easterby’s side had hoped to be running out in Rome on the cusp of an unprecedented third consecutive title and a second Grand Slam in three years.

But, following last weekend’s 42-27 hammering against France, Ireland must rely on results elsewhere to snatch the championship crown and are in serious danger of finishing third.

The reigning champions will be roared on by up to 30,000 travelling fans at a sold-out Stadio Olimpico, where retiring centurions Peter O’Mahony and Conor Murray are poised to make final Test appearances from the bench.

Cian Healy – Ireland’s most-capped player, with 137 outings – will also bid farewell, albeit he has not been included in the matchday squad.

Asked if there is a feeling of what might have been, skipper Doris said: “I don’t think so.

“Obviously last week was very disappointing and it changes the nature of the end of it, but for us it’s still about finishing with our best performance. The rest is out of our control.

“But the three lads, what they’ve contributed, the group we have, we really want to finish with our best performance yet and that’s been a key theme through the week.

“Obviously there was quite a bit of disappointment for 24, 48 hours post-game (after the France loss) and it can be tricky seeing some of the clips back and the images and the frustration around that.

“But we turned the page quite quickly and are getting excited about a special weekend over here with our best performance yet in front of 25,000 or 30,000 Irish travelling over, which will be incredibly special.”

Ireland must beat the Azzurri –