Doris And Farrell Attend Guinness Men’s Six Nations Launch In Edinburgh

The Six Nations Captains gathered outside the famous gates of Edinburgh Castle for a unique photo moment, before joining their Head Coaches at The Hub, a venue and stage renowned for global entertainers, to meet the world’s media, set the scene for this year’s Championship, and kick start a year that will usher in a new era for international rugby.

The Ireland skipper spoke about facing France in the opening game and fielded questions about Ireland’s penalty count in recent fixtures, “”It’s pretty much the pinnacle of Test rugby, taking away the World Cup obviously and France first up over there sharpens the mind certainly, it’s one to look forward to.

“I’ve spoken to the coaches off the back of November around my discipline. As captain, as a leader, I need to be leading that area of the game a lot better than I have been so it’s an area of improvement for me and us as a collective.”

Doris also spoke about other aspects of the game where he wants to see improvements from November, “Our breakdown wasn’t at the percentage we would have liked and that we have had traditionally in the past. I think our conversion rate in the opposition 22, which comes off the back of some of our set-piece stuff.

“There are probably no areas where you could say we were consistently excellent at, so there’s room for improvement across the board, which is exciting. There is certainly an awareness that we need to improve in order to chase down the performances and the results we’re after.”

26 January 2026; Ireland head coach Andy Farrell, right, in the company of captain Caelan Doris, is interviewed during the launch of the Guinness Six Nations Rugby Championship at The Hub in Edinburgh, Scotland. Photo by Ross MacDonald/Sportsfile

Head Coach Andy Farrell spoke the news that Jack Boyle will require surgey on the injury he picked up at the weekend, “It is really devastating for Jack, what a terrible thing to happen for him. He would have known that his chance was coming around at an international level, you would have thought. And for him, at the last hurdle, to be pulled like that is a shame for us all.”

Farrell has called up rising Connacht prop Billy Bohan, grandson of the great Ireland coach Mick Doyle to the squad, “You can hear the excitement in his voice, a little bit of a chuckle whilst I was speaking to him on the phone. “There’s some good experienced players that are behind him [in the pecking order] last weekend. We obviously followed his progress through the 20s and the games that he’s played so far at Connacht.

“The temperament is there. He’s come from good stock with his grandfather. “He’s a student of the game as well. Maybe he’s come a little bit earlier than he would have thought. But that could stand to us all down the line as well.”