Caelan Doris plays down potential 'Joe Schmidt effect' ahead of Australia clash

Ireland may have been down in the mouth after the opening November defeat to the All Blacks.

But the possibility of being able to exit the month's series with three wins from four is enticing, says Caelan Doris.

He means it too - that first loss came in his first game as new Ireland captain so it didn't sit well with him at all.

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Certainly, and looking at what's at stake in the Ireland-Australia game, three wins and one loss will look better than the '50-pee', the half-and-half of two wins and two losses.

"We're definitely aware of what's at stake," says the Ireland skipper, "It's a big game for us as well. We've the chance to go three from four and improve our performance.

"I think a lot lies on this weekend in terms of the success of the autumn for us and how that's viewed in terms of how we get our performance right because last week was good, the first half was good against Argentina, we weren't where we needed to be against the All Blacks.

"If we can show the progression in our performance this week, I think there's a lot on the line there."

Doris didn't make an Ireland squad during Joe Schmidt's time in charge but in the first game following his departure, when he was selected at no. 8 for the opening Six Nations game against Scotland in 2020.

"In terms of Joe having insight, our game probably evolved quite a bit.

"His stamp on the game within Ireland is definitely still there as well, the professionalism that he brought the game to, a lot of the habits and his focus on building the right habits is still there but there's been evolutions there as well I would say."

Australia have definitely been better for Schmidt's arrival.

"I think it's been a pretty steady growth, through the Rugby Championship you definitely saw improvements through how they were playing from the start and then in the autumn against England and Wales in particular they were very impressive .

"You can see they're very passionate about their attack, you can see Joe's stamp on the game in terms of their trick-plays and first two, three phases, coming up with different unique plays around that to break down defences so we're going to have to be on high alert there."

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