Caelan Doris: Captaining Ireland in Six Nations another significant milestone for born leader

Caelan Doris is thoughtful and articulate so it’s no surprise those qualities are evident in the style accompanying the substance of his captaincy.

The 25-year-old prefers to lead by example but he understands that from time to time both verbal and physical cues are required to motivate a group.

Doris has captained teams at various levels, national and provincial age-grade to Leinster senior status.

But when Peter O’Mahony was substituted during the recent Six Nations victory over France in Marseille, Doris took over the captaincy of the national side. Ireland head coach Andy Farrell had him primed for just such an eventuality.

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During a match there is no time to reflect on such duties, just react, but on being named captain for last weekend’s game against Italy, Doris faced a different set of circumstances. By his own admission – speaking as a new brand ambassador for Lucozade Sport – the origin for any nerves he felt was a real desire to do the job well.

“There’s definitely a few other things to think about so there’s more nerves and I found it a little bit harder to switch off.

“But [it’s] an unbelievable honour to have done it and my respect for what Johnny [Sexton] did in terms of getting his performance so high week in, week out, plus leading us as a team so well and ticking all the boxes, has gone even higher for what he’s managed to do.

“I kind of felt that I had to prove myself a little bit and given it was my go, I wanted to do a good job and try to maintain the standards that Pete [O’Mahony] and Johnny have set in the past.

“So, the pressure wasn’t coming externally, it was more from me wanting to do a good job. But the leadership group around me were very helpful and I leant pretty heavily on them.”

So how has he changed as a person and a leader since he captained the Ireland U20s?

“Probably fairly similar overall. It’s a different challenge in a way because you are leading people your own age [at 20s] back then and it is on a smaller scale,” he said.

“The challenge of leading people more experienced than me or who might know a lot more than me, I was trying to delegate or lean a little more on them, be a bit more inclusive [in terms of] the experience of other people. But I think the main principles of trying to lead through how I play remain the same.”

He pointed to the good relationships he enjoys within the squad as a facilitator in bedding in as captain.

“It’s important to have a clear message and try and, maybe not inspire, but provide belief, confidence, and reassurance to the group. I hope that I am pretty approachable. As well as me leaning on other people, people can lean on me too.”

Complicating matters a little was the fact that Doris swapped the number eight jersey for the role of openside flanker against Italy. While there are similarities in terms of general backrow functions there are enough differences to require the curbing one of two instincts.

He explained: “Largely the game is unstructured so the way I play in the unstructured parts of the game, which make up the majority of it, are pretty similar. It is more so off lineouts and scrums where I might end up in a different place and have a knock-on effect for a couple of phases.

“I like being a bit of a nuisance at the breakdown, like the battle to beat the other [number] seven to the first breakdown. I try to bring that in if I am playing eight as well to a certain extent.”

There is also less ball-carrying than at number eight.

Doris was asked whether talk about a possible Grand Slam title is permitted within the squad.

“Yeah, I think so, yeah. You obviously have your north star and that’s what we’re heading for, [but] as clichéd as it is, it is important to maintain a week-to-week focus and not get lost in the whole Grand Slam chat. Of course, it’s a special opportunity that we can potentially do, so we’re definitely motivated to try and do it.

Next up are Wales, who visit Dublin on Saturday week. Hugo Keenan’s knee injury is a source of concern and Doris knows the player affectionately known as ‘Barry Backfield’ would be a huge loss.

“He’s been unbelievable, a rock at 15. I think you probably take some of his performances for granted. He’s definitely left big boots to fill if he’s not back for Wales.

“But at the same time, we’ve got [Ciarán] Frawley, Jordan [Larmour] and Jacob [Stockdale], lads who could do a job there as well. If it’s not him, I’m excited to see someone else give it a go.”