Caelan Doris driven by pain on Leinster’s road to European redemption

A margin of 57 points separated the two teams when they met at the RDS just a few short weeks ago, but Caelan Doris is anticipating a much tougher test when Leinster face Gloucester in Pool A of the European Champions Cup in Kingsholm on Saturday (kick-off 1pm).

After electing to make 13 changes from the team that defeated Bordeaux-Bègles just six days earlier, Gloucester head coach George Skivington watched on as his charges leaked nine tries in the Ballsbridge venue on December 16th and failed to register a single point in response.

Having also overcome Racing 92 with relative ease, Leinster currently sit at the summit of Pool A and will be looking for another brace of wins over the next two weekends to give themselves the best possible ranking heading into the knockout rounds. However, Doris recognises there will be plenty of motivation within a much-changed Gloucester group that have their own European aspirations.

“Obviously we got a pretty good result against them the last time, but we are expecting a much tougher challenge. Probably both in terms of the team we expect them to field and then being away from home, early kick-off. All those factors come into it, so I think it’s going to be a much tougher challenge,” Doris acknowledged.

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“Looking at their backrow in particular, they have got so much depth and quality there. [Ruan] Ackermann, Ben Morgan, [Albert] Tuisue, Jordy Reid. There is a lot of quality there. It’s an exciting one for us as a backrow. It’s a blank slate in a way, so we probably haven’t even reviewed the last game too much because it’s going to be very different.”

Despite having made his professional debut against his birth province of Connacht in April 2018, there is something that Mayo native Doris is yet to experience in the blue of Leinster. Although he featured in four successful Pro14 campaigns, the only final victory the Ireland international played in was the behind-closed-doors showdown with Ulster in 2020.

He lined out in front of 59,682 spectators for last season’s Champions Cup showpiece against La Rochelle in Marseille, but that game went the way of Ronan O’Gara’s Top 14 side.

There is quite a vivid memory of the dressing room after and how bleak and silent it was, and not wanting to experience that again

Should he finally sample the joy of winning silverware as a player in a packed stadium during the present term, it would be under the best possible circumstances. In addition to this year’s European final taking place at the Aviva Stadium, Leinster would be the guaranteed host team for a United Rugby Championship decider if they maintain their current status as league pacesetters and progress through the competition’s earlier knockout fixtures.

“It’s definitely an exciting prospect and I think that’s why it’s easy to get motivated for these games because we know if we perform well in these, it sets us up well to have as many home games as possible.”

When Doris was withdrawn to make way for Rhys Ruddock with 66 minutes gone in that aforementioned Champions Cup final duel with La Rochelle last May, Leinster led the contest 21-17. A late converted try from Arthur Retière ultimately put paid to their quest for a fifth European star and Doris admitted the passing of time has not fully removed the pain of this defeat.

“Even in the forwards’ meeting this morning [Monday] we watched some clips from the final. Every now and then they come up. It still hurts seeing them. There is quite a vivid memory of the dressingroom after and how bleak and silent it was, and not wanting to experience that again,” Doris added.