‘Nathan’s Calm, He’s Got A Good Head On His Shoulders’ – Doris

Selected as the back-up scrum half to Jamison Gibson-Park, on the occasion of his own 50th cap, Doak has been rewarded for his impressive form this year with Ulster – he is the third top points scorer in the BKT United Rugby Championship with 72 points.

The 24-year-old has been building steadily for this moment, firstly gaining experience under the national coaches with Emerging Ireland in 2022, as an injury call-up for the 2024 senior tour to South Africa, and as a full squad member for last summer’s Tests against Georgia and Portugal.

With appearances for Ireland ‘A’ and the Ireland XV last year, and his contribution to Ulster’s strong recent run of results, he joined fellow uncapped player Edogbo in Andy Farrell’s Six Nations squad, and is now poised to make his senior debut off the bench against Wales.

Ahead of tonight’s clash at the Aviva Stadium (kick-off 8.10pm), the Lisburn man told Irish Rugby TV: “To make my Ireland debut this weekend is incredibly special from a personal point of view. It is something that you obviously dream of as a kid.

“To be a couple of days away from it, it’s something that I’m really looking forward to doing. I found out in the team meeting (earlier in the week), to confirm it, and it was obviously incredibly special.

“I had all the rest of my team-mates around me there, congratulating me, and to be able to play with them guys at the weekend is going to something I’m really looking forward to.

“I know how much it means to my family and my friends as well. Like, this is something that they’ve dreamed of for me. I’ve got great support back home. Hopefully can do them proud on the weekend.”

Rugby is very much a family affair for Doak, whose father Neil is well known in Irish sporting circles as a former Ireland cricket international and ex-Ulster scrum half, who has coached his native province at senior level, as well as Ulster and Ireland age-grade teams, and had temporary roles as backs coach with Ireland and Emerging Ireland.

Nathan’s teenage brother Cameron, a player of a much different build as a prop, followed in his footsteps when joining the Ulster Academy in 2023, and is now involved with English club Harlequins, making two appearances in the Premiership Rugby Cup.

Their dad Neil, who has nurtured a lot of young talent in Ulster as an Elite Player Development Officer, went agonisingly close to winning a senior cap with Ireland during his own playing career.

He was an unused replacement against Fiji in 1995, brought in by new head coach Murray Kidd at the time, and made the squads for the 2002 Six Nations Championship and the 2003 Rugby World Cup but missed out on matchday selection during both tournaments.

It has been a motivating factor in Nathan’s push to become an Ireland senior international, as the former Ireland U-18 Schools, U-19 & U-20 half-back added: “My dad was on the bench for Ireland but he never got on, so he never made his debut.

“He used to always say to me as a kid, you’ve got to be better than him and play for Ireland one day. That’s probably always stuck in the back of my head, so I know he’ll be incredibly proud this weekend.”

Test newcomer Doak has the comfort of having six of his Ulster team-mates around him in tonight’s matchday squad to face Wales, and that will certainly help him cope with any pre-match nerves.

With five starters from Ulster, it is the highest representation from the northern province in an Ireland starting XV since July 2021’s home win over the USA, when Robert Baloucoune, James Hume, Tom O’Toole, and Nick Timoney made their debuts, alongside centre Stuart McCloskey.

Baloucoune, McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale, O’Toole, who replaces the injured Jeremy Loughman (calf) at loosehead prop, and Timoney will all start the fourth round fixture against Wales, with the uncapped Doak and four-times capped hooker Tom Stewart earning places on the bench.

Asked about the rising number of Ulster players involved, head coach Farrell said: “Obviously they’re selected in the squad because of the form that they’ve been showing for their province, that’s first and foremost.

“But the confidence that they’ve shown within the group to warrant a starting place or a debut or a substitute spot, it shows that they’re keen to grow at this level as well, and we’ve seen that over the last five weeks.”

Meanwhile, Ireland captain Caelan Doris said the squad have ‘tons to play for’, between building on their performance against England from the last round, taking a step closer to retaining the Triple Crown and staying in the Six Nations title race, and making sure they mark their scrum halves’ milestones with a win.

“I love a Friday night game here in the Aviva. We’ve got Nathan Doak’s first cap and Jamison (Gibson-Park) as well (with his 50th), the two nines with pretty big milestones for both of them,” acknowledged Doris.

“So there is a lot of motivation to make it a special day for them as well. Ultimately it is about us, it is about our journey, it’s about chasing down our potential.

“Being able to get up for the occasion with those two milestones that I mentioned as well here tomorrow. So, yeah, tons to play for.

“Nathan has been great. He is a pretty experienced player at this stage. He has got over 100 caps for Ulster, he’s been around a little bit and he’s been in camp quite a few times as well.

“So he’s calm, he’s got a good head on his shoulders, he’s trained really well this week, so yeah, looking forward to seeing him off the bench tomorrow night.”

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