Andy Farrell said that Connacht's 20-year-old prop Billy Bohan has the temperament to adjust to the step-up after being parachuted into Ireland's Six Nations squad, following the injury suffered by Jack Boyle.
Bohan was called into the squad following Boyle's lower leg injury, picked up 20 minutes into Saturday's Connacht-Leinster game at the Dexcom Stadium in which both props were starting at loosehead.
Leinster head coach Leo Cullen admitted afterwards that Boyle's injury could be long-term. It exacerbated an already acute injury crisis at loosehead, with Andrew Porter and Paddy McCarthy also ruled out, though Farrell indicated today that Porter could yet be involved later in the competition.
Bohan, who only turned 20 in November, made his senior debut for Connacht in the Challenge Cup last month and was part of the Ireland squad for last summer's Under-20 World Cup in Italy.
The Kildare-born prop is from Irish rugby royalty, as a grandson of former Ireland coach and player Mick Doyle, who famously oversaw the 1985 Triple Crown victory.
"You can hear the excitement in his voice, a little bit of a chuckle whilst I was speaking to him on the phone," Farrell told RTÉ Sport.
"I mean, it says a lot, doesn't it, that Connacht are playing one of the biggest games in their history, I would have thought, with the new stand opening and at home to Leinster and he's first choice. It says a lot.
"There's some good experienced players that are behind him [in the pecking order] last weekend. We obviously followed his progress through the 20s and the games that he's played so far at Connacht.
"The temperament is there. He's come from good stock with his grandfather.
"He's a student of the game as well. Maybe he's come a little bit earlier than he would have thought. But that could stand to us all down the line as well."
Farrell was anxious to sympathise with Boyle, who had been a likely starter for Ireland's Six Nations opener in Paris. The 24-year-old come off the bench twice in last year's competition, in the away wins over Wales and Italy, but has yet to take a starting spot in the Six Nations.
"It is really devastating for Jack, what a terrible thing to happen for him," said Farrell.
"He would have been disappointed in the autumn not to play. He's gone back and proved a point and that's the type of response that you want to see. And he would have known that his chance was coming around at an international level, you would have thought.
"And for him, at the last hurdle, to be pulled like that is a shame for us all."
The head coach indicated that that Hugo Keenan, Jamie Osborne, Finlay Bealham and Tadhg Furlong are all likely to be fit and available for the trip to the French capital, though he did caution that Furlong has a "few things to get through" before his fitness can be confirmed.
Elsewhere, Munster lock Edwin Edogbo has also joined up with the squad for his first international camp, having been included in the initial squad.
Edogbo had been earmarked to feature in the November series but was ruled out due to a head injury and was omitted from Friday's win over Dragons with a concussion issue but has been free to link up with the national team.
"He's certainly made an impact," says Farrell. "It's up to everyone else to make sure that they help him be himself as soon as he possibly can, so he can get up to speed with everything. Because there's a little bit of a difference in how you prepare for a first international game, certainly with two days less preparation [due to concussion]."
Ireland head to Paris off the back of an indifferent 2025, in which they secured the Triple Crown in the opening three fixtures of the year but struggled for momentum thereafter, losing to both New Zealand and South Africa in November.
Two years ago, Ireland beat France in the opening weekend fixture in Marseille, en route to a second successive Six Nations title. This year's France-Ireland game is an especially novel one, taking place on a Thursday to avoid a clash with the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Milan the following day.
Meanwhile, Ireland captain Caelan Doris is looking forward to what will be his sixth Six Nations campaign having sat out the 2021 tournament to address concussion concerns.
"It's pretty much the pinnacle of Test rugby, taking away the World Cup obviously," the Mayo man told RTÉ Sport.
"France first up over there sharpens the mind certainly, it’s one to look forward to."
Ireland’s discipline came under the microscope in the Quilter Nations Series in November, particularly in the defeat to South Africa when Ireland lost James Ryan to a 20-minute red card and had four other players sent to the sin-bin as they operated with 12 players at stages against the world champions.
"I’ve spoken to the coaches off the back of November around my discipline," Doris continued.
"As captain, as a leader, I need to be leading that area of the game a lot better than I have been so it’s an area of improvement for me and us as a collective."
On top of discipline, Doris envisions plenty of scope for improvement in every other sector for Farrell’s squad.
"Our breakdown wasn’t at the percentage we would have liked (in November) and that we have had traditionally in the past.
"I think our conversion rate in the opposition 22, which comes off the back of some of our set-piece stuff.
"There are probably no areas where you could say we were consistently excellent at, so there’s room for improvement across the board, which is exciting.
"There is certainly an awareness that we need to improve in order to chase down the performances and the results we’re after."
