Doris: There’s Excitement To Have Our Best Performance Yet

The veteran trio took pride of place in the front row ahead of what will be their final home appearances for Ireland. Tomorrow’s Guinness Men’s Six Nations clash with France will also see captain Doris, Finlay Bealham, and Jack Conan win their 50th caps.

There is an obvious eagerness to want to give O’Mahony, Healy, and Murray the best possible Aviva Stadium farewell with Ireland, and Doris says the squad must harness the emotions around it the right way.

“It’s been touched on during the week and it’s definitely an added element of motivation for us,” he said. “You don’t want to get overly emotional and make it too big of a thing and get sidetracked from the main objective.

“But yeah, it’s been thrown in as an extra motivational factor. It’s definitely something that we’ll think of, and hopefully it will give us an extra edge as well.”

Doris is bidding to follow in O’Mahony’s footsteps and lift the Six Nations trophy next week in Rome, a year on from the 35-year-old holding the Championship silverware aloft after Andy Farrell’s men had seen off Scotland on home soil.

Speaking about bowing out of international action on his own terms, O’Mahony said that the Ireland environment under Farrell turned into ‘a club away from my club, the way the relationships went, the friends that I have up here’.

It is clear that those tight connections between the players have contributed to their on-field success, and Doris gave an insight into the Corkman’s influence both in the Test arena and behind the scenes.

“I think the main thing is Pete’s playing ability is maybe underappreciated. I probably did as well before I came in. Like he’s got very good knowledge of the game, he’s very skilful. His lineout ability is unbelievable.

He’s loved amongst the group. He’s very personable in a unique way. He’s loved by lads just hanging around in the evenings, having tea in the evenings.

“He builds a great bond with everyone around him, the younger guys and the older guys love having him around.

“Like ‘Church’ (Healy) and like Murray, the three of them are going to be big losses, not just on the pitch but to the environment in general.”

Doris has a played four-won two-lost two record against France, and those last two victories came in the 2023 and 2024 Six Nations tournaments when Farrell’s side won 32-19 at home and 38-17 away in Marseille respectively.

Les Bleus’ 2025 form suggests they will be a handful to deal with as either side of a disappointing one-point defeat to England, Fabien Galthié’s charges scored 18 tries in dismissing both Wales (43-0) and Italy (74-23) in convincing fashion.

Young Bordeaux-Bègles winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey is the Championship’s top try scorer with five tries, while Thomas Ramos, who reverts to the full-back position tomorrow, has scored 34 points from 16 successful kicks out of 20 attempts.

“We’re very much aware of the threat France pose and the quality they’ve got individually, but what they can do collectively as well,” acknowledged Doris, who has recovered from a knee injury to return at number 8.

“We’ve seen that with some of the scorelines they’ve put down against some other quality teams, and we’ve experienced it first-hand as well a number of times too so we’re definitely aware that we’re going to need to be at our best.

But there’s excitement to go there and to have our best performance yet. Some of the fixtures against France in the past are up there with my favourite games that I’ve been involved in.

“Marseille last year was a special venue to play in, very cool. Thinking back to the Aviva in ’23, unbelievable atmosphere, very good game.

“One of the highest ball-in-play times I think that we’ve had. So it’s two teams with an attacking mindset and attacking desire, and hopefully it will make for a good watch.”

As well as looking to curbing the influence of France captain Antoine Dupont, the Mayo man’s opposite number at the base of the visitors’ scrum will be Grégory Alldritt, who has overcome a groin issue to feature in an unchanged pack.

Alldritt (46) and Dupont (41) are the leading French ball carriers in this year’s Six Nations, and the former, who also has seven tackle breaks, three offloads, and three breakdown steals to his name, is highly regarded by Doris for his back row prowess.

“He’s one of the best in the world,” he said of Alldritt. “As a number 8 myself, you always look at the others and try and add a string to your bow from things they do.

“He’s got a very varied skillset. He’s got the ability to keep the ball alive through offloads. He’s very strong in his carry and has an ability to stay on his feet for quite a while at a low carry angle, which is hard to get under him sometimes.

“He provides a lot of go-forward (ball) for France. He’s a nuisance in terms of poach and back-end in the breakdown, something that I try and do as well.

“He’s obviously a talisman for them. A key player for La Rochelle who we’ve come up against quite a few times (in Leinster) as well, but with France too when he plays well, they play well. He’s another man we’ll have to keep our eye on tomorrow.”