Skipper Caelan Doris says he's excited about a new-look Ireland team and wants to "back up" the opening Guinness Six Nations win over France.
Andy Farrell made six changes to his starting XV and added five new faces to the bench for tomorrow’s Aviva Stadium clash with Italy (3pm).
Squad captain Peter O’Mahony, Tadhg Furlong and Bundee Aki were not considered due to injuries picked up in the 38-17 win over Les Bleus, while scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park starts on the bench with Craig Casey preferred.
Calvin Nash will win his third cap, while Joe McCarthy, player of the match last weekend, and Jack Crowley, are set for their seventh and 11th caps, respectively.
"It’s a pretty exciting team, a few new combinations," said the 25-year-old after Saturday morning’s captain’s run.
"Craig starting at 9, he’s been class for Munster over the last while, delighted to see him get an opportunity.
"Lads have been putting their hands up. Big Joe goes in the second row again, he’s been class.
"Crowler at 10, who’s another leader, he’s been leading us well and doing the same at Munster so there’s enough experience there and older heads but there’s excitement over the younger guys."
The inclusion of Lions Test number 8 Jack Conan sees Doris move to openside wing forward and while admitting he prefers the back of the scrum, he says it’s a role he’s well used to.
"I’m pretty familiar with the 7 role from Leinster from covering it," said Doris, who will win his 38th cap.
"If it’s me and Josh [van der Flier] at Leinster, I’ll be the back-up 7. We practice it in training, swapping in and out.
"It’s part of my game as well, the sort of openside, 'groundhoggy' bit, disrupting breakdown and making myself a nuisance, I’ve tried to bring that in whether I’m playing 6 or 8.
"I can stick my head into a few more rucks, skill-free this weekend, but I won't be changing too much."
A calf injury ruled O’Mahony out of contention and Mayo native Doris (below) said he learned early in the week that he would get the nod.
"I found out Tuesday afternoon. 'Faz' [Farrell] gave me the heads-up then that Pete was going to be out and I was going to take his role up for the week," said Doris, who revealed he had spoken to former captain Johnny Sexton during the week and the main message was to be yourself.
As for improving on from the five-try-to-two win in Marseille, Doris identified areas to work on.
"The two most noticeable were our discipline, I think we conceded 14 penalties," he said.
"Our scrum didn’t fire as well as we would have liked. We see it as a weapon with the individuals we have in the front row. We want that to be a point of difference and a strength of ours.
"The challenge this week is to back up last week with a better performance this week across all this week and that’s an exciting prospect."
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