Doris: It’s A New Year, A New Group, But Another Big Challenge

Ireland’s matchday 23 for tomorrow night’s clash at the Stade de France (kick-off 9.10pm local time/8.10pm Irish time) includes four Six Nations debutants – two in the starting XV – and two starting props with 15 caps between them.

Tommy O’Brien, Cian Prendergast, and Jeremy Loughman will all make their first Six Nations starts, Jacob Stockdale comes in on the left wing for his first Championship appearance since 2021, and fit-again full-back Jamie Osborne will play for the first time in three months.

Loughman and Thomas Clarkson join forces with Dan Sheehan in a new-look front row, and Michael Milne, Loughman’s Munster team-mate, is the back-up loosehead prop as the pair step into the spotlight with Andrew Porter, Paddy McCarthy, and Jack Boyle all sidelined through injury.

There is also quite a different look to the selected France team compared to twelve months ago, as Damien Penaud, former captain Grégory Aldritt, and Gaël Fickou were all left out of their 2026 Six Nations squad. Romain Ntamack and Thibaud Flament are both unavailable this week, and Uini Atonio has sadly had to retire.

Some of the players who have shone on the World Rugby Under-20 Championship stage for France in recent years are now being given their chance at senior level, and allied to Antoine Dupont’s return to international rugby from his ACL injury, there is plenty of intrigue and anticipation surrounding this game.

This will be Ireland’s first time to play at the Stade de France since the 2023 Rugby World Cup, as the following year’s Six Nations match, which they won impressively 38-17 on the way to retaining the title, was held in Marseille due to Olympic preparations in Paris.

Giving a sense of the feeling in camp after the Captain’s Run today, Doris said: “I’m massively excited about the game tomorrow. We had a really good week in Portugal. Prepped well.

“There’s good appetite, even coming out here today, there’s good excitement being in the stadium and seeing it and knowing what it’s going to be like tomorrow. I think we’ve trained well, and I think we’re in a good spot.

“It’s special (getting to play here on the opening night), it’s pretty much the pinnacle of the game really. We’ve had some fond memories here in the past through the World Cup and some not so good ones as well.

“But what’s been consistent through that has been an unbelievable atmosphere. Yeah, we want to enjoy that really, not let it affect us but also enjoy it. It’s going to be a special spectacle and we’re hoping to put our best foot forward.”

On the players that are new to the Six Nations or returning to the Championship, he added: “I mean they’re all relatively experienced in their own right and they’ve all be involved in some capacity before, but obviously it is a big occasion over here.

“So, there’s good excitement about showing up properly tomorrow, about keeping each other present, keeping each other accountable moment by moment through the game.

“We’ve touched on that through the week, but also embracing the occasion, not letting it get to us by being present and by just taking it one step at a time.”

Doris has lined out against France at the Saint-Denis venue twice before, at blindside flanker for 2020’s Covid-19-rescheduled game which ended 35-27 in the hosts’ favour. He was also in the number 6 jersey in February 2022 when an Irish fightback fell short.

With penalties proving costly, Andy Farrell’s men were left trailing 15 points before tries from Josh van der Flier and Jamison Gibson-Park led to a close finish but ultimately a 30-24 reversal, ending their nine-match winning run.

Rather than placing too much focus on that successful trip to the south of France in 2024, Doris is just keen to concentrate on the here and now and how to get the best out of an Irish squad that is determined to hit the ground running.

Asked if they have taken some inspiration from the bonus point victory from two years ago, he replied: “Not a ton, no. The internal view and perception is that there’s still a lot of belief at the core, and that’s grown over the last 10 days.

“I think we’ve created evidence for more confidence and more belief based on how we’ve shown up on the field, but also connections built off it and the work that’s been done off it as well.

“There is a pretty positive feeling based on how we’ve trained and how lads have showed up and integrated.”

The Mayo-born number 8, whose side are also competing for the newly-unveiled Solidarity Trophy, continued: “I think there’s a good rivalry there (between Ireland and France) going back a number of years really.

“We’ve had some good days here in Paris. We’ve had some good days against France as well, as well as the likes of last year where we haven’t gotten it right. So, it is a new year, it’s a new group, but it’s another big challenge.”

Maintaining their discipline against les Bleus is a must if Ireland are to pass that challenge. Roll back to the 2025 encounter with France, and yellow cards for Calvin Nash and Joe McCarthy hampered Farrell’s charges in a chastening 42-27 defeat at the Aviva Stadium.

Their recent November campaign saw Tadhg Beirne hit with a 20-minute red card against New Zealand, and Stockdale was sin-binned during the subsequent win over Japan, before four yellow cards, coupled with James Ryan’s first-half dismissal for a dangerous clearout, marred Ireland’s 24-13 loss to South Africa.

They conceded a total of 18 penalties against the Springboks last time out, six of which were at scrum time. Doris says they have been working hard in training to improve their discipline, learning from their mistakes and making sure they make better decisions in key areas such as the breakdown.

“It’s one of the key points that we’ve talked about since coming into camp, especially off the back of November where it wasn’t good enough,” explained the 27-year-old, when asked about Ireland’s recent disciplinary issues.

“I would have had chats with the coaches post-November around me as captain needing to lead it better. I gave away too many penalties in November.

“So, it starts with me, it starts with the more senior players, but yeah, across the board it’s very important, especially with the way the game’s going.

“There are more cards these days, they’re hotter on offsides, (at the) breakdown they want to favour the attacking team, so smart decision-making there and being really technical and disciplined is going to be very important.”

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