Jump to main content

Menu

Vodafone

‘Si Has A Tonne Of Respect In How He Leads’ – Doris

‘Si Has A Tonne Of Respect In How He Leads’ – Doris

Ireland's Caelan Doris and Simon Easterby joined their fellow team captains and head coaches at today's Guinness Men's Six Nations launch in Rome ©INPHO/Billy Stickland

Captain Caelan Doris says Ireland are focused on evolving and improving their game as they prepare to kick off their Guinness Men’s Six Nations title defence against England next week.

Doris attended his first Six Nations launch today, the event taking place in Rome to mark the 25th year since the tournament was expanded to include Italy, and fittingly bringing together some of rugby’s modern day gladiators at the awe-inspiring Colosseum.

The Lacken-born back rower captained Ireland for the first time against the Azzurri last February, and then led the team in July’s second Test against South Africa and through the recent Autumn Nations Series, including the IRFU’s 150th Anniversary Test against Australia.

With Andy Farrell moving into his British & Irish Lions role for the summer tour, Ireland’s interim head coach Simon Easterby joined Doris in the Italian capital as the respective coaches and captains previewed the 2025 Championship.

Having joined up with the rest of the players in camp in Dublin on Monday, Doris said: “Yeah, from the very first meeting yesterday it’s about our evolution and improving and the awareness that all these teams around us are very competitive.

“That’s the great thing about this competition, each game you can’t take anything for granted. For us, we’ve got England first up (at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday week) and it’s hard to look beyond that for now.

“But in terms of our preparation and our mindset generally, it’s one of needing to evolve and needing to improve collectively. It is an exciting prospect but it’s game by game.”

Easterby’s 36-player Six Nations squad includes the vast majority of last season’s successful group, but there is also a talented young crop of players pushing through, with November debutants Thomas Clarkson, Sam Prendergast, Cormac Izuchukwu and Gus McCarthy amongst them.

Development players Hugh Cooney, Cathal Forde, James McNabney and Ben Murphy will also fly out with the defending champions on Wednesday for their pre-tournament training camp in Portugal.

Leinster prop Jack Boyle, the only uncapped member of Easterby’s main group, and Connacht scrum half Caolin Blade will get game-time with their provinces this weekend before heading to the Algarve.

That is the same plan for James Lowe and Dan Sheehan who are both set to return from injury when Leinster host the DHL Stormers on Saturday. Their availability would provide a timely boost ahead of Ireland’s bid for a historic Six Nations three in-a-row.

Asked about the favourites’ tag which most bookmakers have either given to the title holders or 2024 runners-up France, Doris admitted: “I hadn’t looked at the bookies actually. It’s still just being aware of how competitive it is and it’s about improving and preparing as best as possible.

“I don’t think we take that (the betting odds) into account too much. There’s an awareness that if we don’t keep improving, someone else will take the reins.”

Saturday week’s eagerly-anticipated opener against England at the Aviva Stadium (kick-off 4.45pm) comes just nine weeks after Farrell headed into his Lions sabbatical on the back of a hard-fought 22-19 victory over Australia.

Although it is a short run-up for defence coach Easterby, who takes interim charge of Ireland for the Six Nations and the upcoming summer tour, he has been part of the national coaching set-up since 2014 and has the full support of those above and below him.

IRFU Performance Director David Humphreys said that Easterby was ‘in a really good space’ when speaking to the players at the IRFU High Performance Centre yesterday, telling BBC Sport NI that his former team-mate knows ‘what has been the key ingredients of delivering success for the Irish team’.

Giving the players’ perspective, Doris acknowledged: “Si has been unbelievable for us for the last number of years, he took the lineout initially and then the defensive role.

“He has a tonne of respect among players in how he leads and the one-on-one time he puts in with players. So a lot you look for in a head coach, it’s been there. We’ve seen it in the last few years.

“‘Faz’ has obviously been a massive figure for us, but Johnny (Sexton) has been a massive figure for us in the past who left and instead of one person trying to fill the void it’s been a shared responsibility.

“So, I’m sure the leadership group will take a little bit of that on too, but yeah, there’s a tonne of faith in Si, definitely.”