‘It’s Just About Continually Improving’ – Doris

A fast start set Ireland on course for a 32-18 victory over Scotland in Edinburgh, taking their performance levels up a couple of notches from the England match as they moved four points clear at the top of the table.

There was some disruption again with Tadhg Beirne and Ryan Baird both going off for head injury assessments inside the opening 13 minutes, but thankfully nothing like the injury-enforced chaos of Ireland’s last visit to Scottish Gas Murrayfield.

Seizing control early on was a key objective for the defending champions, and Doris was satisfied with how they achieved that, albeit that their 17-5 half-time lead could have been bigger as they were twice held up over the try-line.

“Pretty pleasing overall. We knew that Scotland are obviously a quality side full of belief, and coming over here we knew we needed to start well. We targeted a fast start and it was something we mentioned through the week,” he said.

“Not allowing their crowd and their belief and confidence to grow, I think we did that quite well. Obviously scored early on, and a few held up over the line as well.

“There was quite a bit of pressure going on them in the first half. Scotland came back firing early in the second, and scored again towards the end there. A tough Test match but pleased with the result definitely.”

Simon Easterby’s first away trip as interim head coach produced an early Irish surge, and Calvin Nash, a late addition to the starting XV on Saturday in place of Mack Hansen (hamstring), touched down in the seventh minute from a long Sam Prendergast pass.

Scotland had to regroup when losing Duhan van der Merwe to the sin bin, and there was a double blow when a collision between co-captain Finn Russell and Darcy Graham saw both players withdrawn with head injuries.

Tom Jordan switched to out-half in Russell’s absence, but the visitors continued to control proceedings. Prendergast kicked them into double figures before Doris crashed over on the half hour mark, driving in between Grant Gilchrist and Jack Dempsey.

It was the Lacken man’s ninth international try, and his third in four Tests after also crossing the whitewash against Fiji and Australia. He pointed out after the game that he had only scored once before in the Six Nations, against Wales at the start of the 2023 Grand Slam run.

“I love carrying, it’s probably my favourite part of the game. Tries don’t come too frequently for me, I think it’s only my second in the Six Nations so yeah, it was a nice moment.

“When you get up a couple of scores, yeah, it’s very enjoyable. It’s enjoyable being a part of this group in general. Lads love representing the group, representing the country, and it was a very enjoyable one today.”

It could easily have unravelled for Ireland though, as van der Merwe’s acrobatically-finished try gave Scotland a timely lift right on half-time. Two Blair Kinghorn penalties then reduced the deficit to 17-11, eight minutes after the restart.

As was the case when England led 10-5 in Dublin and then applied some early second half pressure, there was no panic from the men in green. They wrestled back control with two tries within five minutes of each other, making it 29-11 by the hour mark.

James Lowe shrugged off Kinghorn’s tackle to open his account for the 2025 Championship, and Jack Conan, part of impactful bench for the second week running, snapped up the bonus point score after Hugo Keenan had done well to collect a Jamison Gibson-Park kick.

Doris led what was the most-capped Ireland matchday squad in Test history with 1238 caps between them, and that level of experience in their ranks was always going to stand to them when things were not going their way.

Asked about how they dealt with the frustration of being held up twice during the first half, and also Scotland managing to cut their lead to just six points, Doris replied: “Backing what we do.

The game over here two years ago epitomised the kind of calm in chaos, trusting in the ability to figure things out as we go on the pitch.

“I think it was the most experienced Irish squad ever in terms of caps today, and I think that showed in terms of the calmness there. Coming in together, taking a breath, acknowledging where we’re at.

“Getting back to the plan pretty quickly, and we saw that today. We saw that two years ago, and it’s been a strength of ours over the last number of years.”

That composure will certainly be tested over the remaining rounds with Ireland now the only unbeaten team left. It is Wales next up in Cardiff on Saturday week, an opportunity to win a third Triple Crown in four years and take a step closer to retaining the overall title.

It will take another full squad effort to get the job done at the Principality Stadium, and Doris acknowledged the high standards that the replacements and wider playing group have brought to ensure Ireland are leading the Championship after two rounds.

“We’re in a good place. Obviously momentum is big in this competition. Two from two, so it’s just about continually improving.

“That’s been the message from day one, knowing that we need to evolve and continue to get better.

“Even today there’s so much growth still in us, so many areas for improvement, so we’ll be targeting that over the next couple of weeks.”

He added: “The bench has been unbelievable for us over the last couple of weeks. The competition within the group, within training, drives the standard upwards.

“You know when you get on the pitch you need to perform if you want to maintain the jersey. I think that’s been a credit to everyone over the last couple of weeks.”