Caelan Doris said Ireland's victory over Australia in their final Autumn Nations Series campaign came with "relief, but also enjoyment" at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. 

Ireland earned a hard-fought 22-19 win to earn their third victory on the spin after starting their campaign with a first home defeat in more than three years to New Zealand. 

In what was Joe Schmidt's first match in Dublin since leaving the Ireland job in 2019, his Wallabies side threatened to spoil the Irish Rugby Football Union's 150th anniversary celebrations.

Australia had led for much of the contest and held a 13-5 advantage at the interval thanks to Max Jorgensen's try and some superb kicking from Noah Lolesio.

But Gus McCarthy's try clinched an Irish win, with Josh van der Flier and Doris also scoring tries for the hosts. 

"There's relief, but there's also enjoyment there too. It's a quality side, they are Joe Schmidt-coached, and we knew it was going to be top class," Doris said. 

"Their attack was right up there, and it was a test for our defence. It was back and forth throughout, and we're delighted with the outcome.

"It felt like we dominated possession and territory, but there was quite a lot of inaccuracy in their 22 and half. We turned it around and it was better in the second half."

The encounter also saw Cian Healy become the most-capped player when he came off the bench to win his 134th cap and surpass former captain Brian O'Driscoll.

Finishing the year with a W! #TeamOfUs pic.twitter.com/SJyaAvl3Md

— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) November 30, 2024

For Schmidt, it was an unhappy return to Irish soil, though he can be happy with his side's display. 

While he was disappointed to lose in Ireland, his Wallabies side again proved themselves a dangerous outfit, though he said he knew Saturday's hosts had a performance like that in them. 

"I already knew that this group of young men had it in them. It was just for them to find it and galvanise each other," Schmidt said.

"I felt at times in that first half we didn't quite capitalise on some of the line breaks that we made. Max Jorgensen's try was really well worked.

"In the second half my one disappointment around the game is I felt we got quite conservative.

"When you do that against Ireland and you are hanging on, you've a four-point lead and you're hoping that's enough, but we tried to do that from too far out.

"I don't know what the territory or possession stats were but we were having to work very hard."