Caelan Doris led by example in an exceptional display against Wales in Ireland's Six Nations opener in Cardiff.
The Ireland camp had stressed the importance of a fast start in the run-up to their encounter at the Principality Stadium and Doris gave Andy Farrell's world number-one ranked team the lead inside two minutes.
The number eight went on to top the charts for tackles (19) and carries (15) in another faultless display as Ireland cantered to a 34-10 victory on Welsh soil for the first time since 2013, with the visitors leading 27-3 at the half.
"An accurate start was the theme of the week," Doris told RTÉ Sport after the final whistle. "We know what the atmosphere can bee like out here, especially if they get into the game early, so that was a big focus and I think we delivered on that pretty well in the first half.
"We got a good lead going into half-time and then second half was a little bit scrappy, they definitely had a big purple patch which we expected because they are a quality team.
"You can set the tone for the game early on"
"We could have managed that patch a little bit better, but we came back strong in the last 20, so it's definitely pleasing.
"It's tough to get a result over here. We've seen that over the last 10 years, we haven't got too many, so it's a good start to the campaign."
Returning to the importance of seizing the early initiative, the 24-year-old added: "You can set the tone for the game early on.
"It's important as well that you're not too fixated on it as sometimes it's out of your control and it's not going to go well and we don't want that to dictate the rest of the game, but it's definitely an important block."
Wales presented a far more worthy adversary after the restart but were aided by their opponents, with Doris admitting: "We were quite ill-disciplined, which gave them entry into our half, we had some good defensive sets to keep them out.
"They obviously got in for one or two so that something to work on for next week."
Ireland face France in a huge encounter in Dublin next Saturday and Doris is relishing the prospect, while acknowledging the contribution made by a vocal Irish fanbase in Cardiff.
"The travelling support was class," he enthused. There was a great atmosphere. There were lots of Irish cheering in that first half in particular. Thanks to all the supporters for coming over and cheering us on and we're back home next week and looking forward to that as well. We love playing in the Aviva."
