Man of the match James Lowe hailed the performance of Caelan Doris after the Leinster forward led Ireland for the first time.
Doris stepped into the role in place of injured captain Peter O'Mahony for yesterday’s victory over Italy.
Informed last Tuesday, the 25-year-old had already revealed that he had spoken to former captain Johnny Sexton during the week and taken advice from senior players about dealing with the honour.
Normally deployed at 8, Doris shifted to the openside flank and had an outstanding game as Ireland won 36-0 to move back to the top of the Guinness Six Nations table.
Winning his 38th cap, Doris got through a huge amount of work against the Italians, carrying 11 times for 30 metres, making nine tackles and winning a turnover.
Kiwi native Lowe joked when asked to describe his Leinster’ team-mate's growth at club and country.
"I don’t really want to," said Lowe, who scored Ireland’s fifth try.
"I’m sure everyone else is talking about him at the moment. Look, he’s a great dude on and off the pitch. He is a very good learner, a great listener.
"His speech before the game was outstanding, to the point, emotional, direct, it was like he’s done it before and fair play, he took it all in his stride and performed outstanding.
"He talked about how nervous he was, young fella but a great head on his shoulders. I think he’s going to be around for a long while.
"He was at 7 today but took it in his stride and was outstanding."
Doris himself admitted that he suffered extra nerves on the day.
The Mayo native (above) said: "Knowing the group we have makes it all the more special.
"We’re a very tightknit group, this group has largely been together for the guts of four years-plus now.
"The relationships we have are special, and the environment that Faz [Andy Farrell, head coach] and Gary [Keegan, performance coach] and all the coaches have set about being ourselves and being vulnerable makes my job easier and made it easier this week.
"I leaned heavily on the other lads as well and from a personal point of view, I hope all the people who have been involved from Ballina, the whole way to Blackrock, all the way, take a little bit of pride from this and from seeing me captain the country today, so I’m delighted with it.
"Definitely more nerves than usual.
"I got to a point where I’m usually fairly calm on game day and looking forward to it but yeah, more nerves today for sure."
Ireland's next game is against Wales on Saturday 24 February.
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