Leinster's Doris ready to lead with actions and words
EVERYDAY'S A SCHOOLDAY: Caelan Doris speaks to the media after a squad training session on the Leinster Rugby 12 Counties Tour at Kilkenny College. Pic: Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
Not even a week had passed after Ireland’s World Cup quarter-final defeat to the All Blacks when some of the Leinster, Munster and Ulster players got together for a coffee back home and attempted to take stock.
For four months they had been fighting in the same ranks. Now the regiment had disbanded and they were on furlough before a return to their habitual ranks and the older ones were prepping their younger peers for how bizarre their next meetings would be.
“All friendships and everything will be put to the side for the few hours,” said Leinster’s Caelan Doris, tongue-in-cheek, before Saturday’s meeting with Munster.”
I’m looking forward to getting stuck into Craig Casey and Jack Crowley in particular!”
Truth is, this is exactly what most of them need.
He had three weeks to himself after France and went from thoughts of ‘how am I going to play again?’ to an urge to go back training earlier than planned. In the end, he found himself wishing the break was longer, but the return to Leinster has been cathartic.
“The best way to overcome a disappointment like that is to get back to play again and start improving and start getting better performances. So, I’m excited to do that. I’ve been watching the team keenly over the last while, some of the young guys who have stepped up, James Culhane in my position.
“I’m setting new goals and trying to improve because if I don’t do that then he is going to take my position. There is an exciting element that comes with that, of just having to stay on the straight and narrow and keep improving. So, I’m excited to get stuck back in.”
Eighty minutes against the Scarlets at the RDS last weekend got him back in blue but that personal ambition and urge to keep improving is uppermost in his mind, even if the mood around Leinster right now is about getting the collective over the line this term.
Rated as one of the game’s top No. 8s, he and everyone else was ultimately outshone at the World Cup by New Zealand’s Ardie Savea who was imperious throughout and Doris admits that he would do well to study some elements of the All Black’s game.
“I said it to you guys over [in France], I have been pretty happy with my defensive game over the last while. A few sloppy penalties here and there, but generally being more of a nuisance, slowing a bit of ball down and getting a few turnovers here and there.
“But I want to put more attention back into my attack, get my carries up and bring back a few offloads here and there, and just be a little bit more dominant in that side of things. That’s a big focus for me over the next while.”
It's not the only one.
Johnny Sexton’s retirement has created a vacuum in leadership that Leinster have looked to fill by naming Garry Ringrose and James Ryan as co-captains but Andy Farrell’s choice as the next Ireland skipper remains to be seen.
Peter O’Mahony has his backers, and Ringrose and Ryan will be in the mix given their burgeoning seniority, but Doris is another to have had his name inserted into the conversation given his world-class status.
He is still only 25 now and has been happy in the past to defer to the likes of Ryan, Ringrose, Tadhg Furlong and Tadhg Beirne in Ireland camp but he is conscious of the passing time and the need to be a more vocal presence going forward.
“Yeah, I think so. Stuart Lancaster would have tried to push it in me quite a bit and I always felt there were more experienced people who knew more than me, and had done more, better speakers etc. But I am trying to bring a little bit more of that back in.
“I’m kind of getting to the stage where I am not a young player anymore. I have a fair bit of experience under my belt and feel I’ve got some knowledge and experience I can share with the whole squad, and the younger guys in particular.”
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