Leinster's Caelan Doris excited for New Year's Day derby

Given a few days off around Christmas Day, Caelan Doris conceded he was happy enough not to be out in the lashings of rain in Thomond Park last Tuesday.

Leinster came through a real dog fight against Munster.

"Pretty awful conditions, one for the purists," he tells RTÉ Sport of the 9-3 win.

"It's interesting to have a different perspective or a different type of game every now and again. A proper arm wrestle of a game."

Instead, the 25-year-old Ireland back row was enjoying some down time in his native Mayo; he starts against Ulster in one of 14 changes to their line-up today at the RDS (5.15pm).

So how was Christmas?

"It was nice to get home, I went back on the 23rd," explains Doris, who will earn his 73rd Leinster cap today, starting at number 8.

"[I] drove my brother and his girlfriend, who were back from LA.

"The whole family was back together, which was nice and only came up [to Dublin on Wednesday] evening so it was a good four days at home, pretty chilled for the most part.

"A few walks on the beach, an odd pint but nothing too hectic. I'm not the biggest fan of wine but I was forced to have a glass [with dinner]."

It was a well-deserved rest for last season's players’ player of the year and now it’s time to get down to the serious business of stopping Ulster’s mini revival that includes victory over the Top14 leaders Racing 92 in the Champions Cup and a narrow win over Connacht in the BKT URC in their last two outings.

"Their attack is a pretty tricky one to deal with so trying to shut them down with our defence is going to be an exciting challenge," says Doris, whose side top the table with only a single defeat to their name this season.

"We've seen some of their images today and their unpredictability in their attack, how