The atmosphere at the Aviva Stadium might benefit from dedicated student sections where fans are "encouraged to have a few more pints", says Caelan Doris.
Ireland beat Italy on Sunday at Lansdowne Road to stay on course for a second Guinness Six Nations championship in a row but many have commented on the lack of crowd engagement during the 36-0 win and some players have spoken of the noticeable lulls during the game.
The quality of the opposition and the time of the fixture, Sunday at 3pm, have been used as excuses for the poor atmosphere and Doris, who captained the side in the absence of Peter O'Mahony, says there is more that could be done by the organisers to lift the supporters.
Some suggestions include lowering ticket prices or doing away with the Presidential greeting, which takes place before the anthems, or dedicated signing sections.
"Maybe, like you see in France, they’ve got the drums going and they’ve got a little bit more music or stuff like that although some people, the purists who are just there to watch the game might find that a little bit frustrating," Doris told RTÉ Sport.
"I think maybe having sections that are catered a little bit more for students or younger people and they are maybe encouraged to have a few more pints as well would be no harm.
"But I can see the frustration if people who are there to watch the game and they have people getting up and down in front of them, it takes away from being able to track the game but I’m sure there are ways to balance everything and maybe have sections."
Doris, however, was mightily impressed by the performance of eight-year-old Stevie Mulrooney (above), who lifted the crowd pre-game with an incredible version of Ireland’s Call.
"He was unbelievable, very impressive, the confidence and ability he has at such a young age," said Doris, a Lucozade ambassador.
"It was class, a pleasure to sing along with him. He was class on the Toy Show as well, good on him.
"I hope he gets the opportunity to do it again. We’d love to have him back."
Meanwhile, the Mayo man, who won his 38th cap against the Azzurri, says the challenge of becoming the first side to win back-to-back Six Nations Grand Slams, and the first double clean sweep in the championship since France in 1997-98 is one that won’t be shirked.
The 'just focusing on the next game’ cliche abandoned, thank God, for the moment, a sign of the team's confidence after beating France away and taking care of business against Italy with the minimum of fuss.
"It's something we have spoken about," admitted the 25-year-old.
"It's a very exciting prospect, the chance of doing back-to-back Grand Slams and creating a little bit of history. That's definitely a motivation for us.
"But if you get lost on that and get pulled into the future, you'll come unstuck week to week.
"I think it’s important to have touched on it and have it as sort of our overarching ambition, but then you come back to ‘process’ and how you get there. And that’s by being present and preparing as best as possible week to week."
Doris, normally Ireland’s first choice number 8, started at openside wing forward for just the second time in his international career and with Jack Conan having a fine outing at the back of the scrum has given head coach Andy Farrell food for thought.
He said: "The more competition we have the better, all the back rows we have, there’s a fair bit of variety and skillset among us so whatever combinations are there, there is usually enough of a skillset to cater for lineout, breakdown, carries and it’s shared regardless of what numbers you have on your back.
"For me, playing 7 or 8 changes my initial roles around set-piece and restart and things like that but once it gets into the unstructured, I try to play as similar as possible.
"Sometimes the positions you are put in based on where you are off first or second phase will alter things for a few phases but as the phases you go you get back into the mix and things don’t really change too much."
Ireland face Wales on Saturday week at 2.15pm in Dublin.
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