After a stellar performance on Sunday against Italy in the 2024 Six Nations, Caelan Doris is heading back to his roots as the Ireland rugby team enjoy a break week in the pursuit of Six Nations history.
Unveiled on Wednesday as a new Lucozade Sport Athlete, Caelan Doris is widely recognised as one of the best backrows on the planet. He earned his first cap for Ireland against Scotland during the Six Nations in 2020 and since then, Doris has represented his country on 38 occasions. In Ireland’s win over Italy on Sunday, captaining his country for the first time.
Born in Lacken, Co. Mayo, Doris confirmed he'd be spending a few days back in Mayo this weekend as he recharged the batteries after a momentous week in his career.
I’m actually heading back to Mayo this weekend, I’m looking forward to touching base. I got a lot of texts from people back home touching on the pride they felt and how it’s great for the town and people of Ballina, the club and everything. Those things were very nice to hear. It’s good to hear the club growing and them doing well, the numbers are improving. I was down there around Christmas and it was nice to reconnect and see a lot of people that were a part of my underage setup. I appreciate their support now and all the foundations and coaching they laid out for me when I was younger.
I think I did get belief from the week, as challenging as I found it at times. It was a very rewarding and special thing to be able to do. I’m also aware that there were some pretty key leaders and players not involved with us last weekend. So regardless of having the title, I will continue to develop my own leadership as Pete comes back in the next few weeks, I’ll try to be as much of a voice and help him as possible, like they did for me.
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The challenges of captaincy
Doris lead the Ireland team this week for the first time in their game against Italy, in the absence of Peter O'Mahony. Doris discussed the extra responsibility he took on this week in his role as captain, and how he approached the role:
I found it harder to switch up. You’re not just thinking about your game and getting your preparation right, you’re thinking about the team and what they need to hear pre-training and post-training. There’s a couple more media requirements, there’s the captain meeting, just little bits through the week that for the first time require more thinking. I just found that usually in the evenings once I’ve done my work I’m fully off, while it is a bit more hard to stay present and enjoy certain times of the week when you have something big coming around the corner and you just want to do a good job.
The feeling after a game feels a little more rewarding, given you put in a little more work, not just around my own performance but thinking of the team a bit more, it’s a little more rewarding from that point of view.
Pictured today, at the Aviva Stadium, is Ireland back-row, Caelan Doris as he was unveiled as the newest Lucozade Sport Athlete. Lucozade Sport has a proud heritage of working with the best athletes in the world and is considered as the go-to sports drink at ‘the point of sweat’ for many athletes. Designed for the most competitive environments, Lucozade Sport provides carbohydrates and electrolytes to enhance hydration and help maintain performance during prolonged endurance exercise.
©INPHO/Dan Sheridan
After much speculation about who would succeed Johnny Sexton as Ireland captain, it's clear after two weeks of the Six Nations that Doris possesses all the ability to lead his country; be that future weeks or years from now..
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