Eddie O'Sullivan, Donal Lenihan and Stephen Ferris have heaped praise on Ulster's Nathan Doak after the 19-year-old put in a scintillating performance for Ulster at Kingspan Stadium Ravenhill last Friday.
Ireland head coach Andy Farrell was in Belfast to witness the the exciting scrum-half in action during Ulster's United Rugby Championship win against Benetton.
Doak – the son of former Ulster scrum-half Neil – stepped in to replace the injured John Cooney in their opening game against Glasgow last month, scoring a crucial try in a six-point win. Against Benetton he nabbed two more tries and kicked all four conversions.
"He's a very good all-round player, a brilliant box kicker, a very good place kicker, and he has great tactical acumen," Lenihan told viewers of RTÉ's Against The Head.
"I think he's a star in the making for Ulster."
O'Sullivan believes Doak's inexperience places him further down the pecking order than a couple of other burgeoning talents in the position, while his provincial battle for a starting place with Cooney is also set to dictate any Ireland aspirations.
"It's hard to say at his age because there's a long line of scrum-halves that we have and you can't throw everyone away suddenly," he said.
"But I think he's certainly going to put his hand up.
"The big one really is, can he keep John Cooney out of the Ulster team when Cooney comes back?"
Nathan Doak put in an eye-catching display for Ulster in their win over Benetton. #RTERugby #URC pic.twitter.com/Stp9qk1j0m
— RTÉ Rugby (@RTErugby) October 11, 2021
"I've know Nathan for a long, long time," Ferris told RTÉ Game On earlier in the evening.
"He's a very grounded fella, really laid back, level headed. He's not going to be one of these lads dancing around in a Balenciaga T-shirt with the Nike high-tops. I think that's his dad over the years keeping on top of him.
"His box kicking is on a different level. It's so, so good, on the money every time. I think he's getting well used to the game at the top level. Getting the ball away from the breakdown, he can be slightly quicker going forward, but he's learning on the hop and it's brilliant to see."
Meanwhile, Ulster defence coach Jared Payne aired his delight at the progress of the youngster who so impressed for the Ireland Under-20s in their Six Nations campaign this year.
Asked if he'd prefer Doak to get an Ireland call-up or stay and learn more with Ulster next month, Payne replied: "I want to see him play with Ulster as much as possible, playing as well as he can.
"If he gets down to Ireland, it's awesome, and I’m sure he’ll learn something and bring it back to us.
"When he’s with Ulster, play as well as he can, and if he’s good enough to get picked down there it will be great for us.
"It would be class for him if he got the call-up, but I don’t pick the team. I’m just happy he’s here playing well for us."
