Mayo's Caelan Doris looking to Hill 16 to cheer on Leinster's boys in blue

Caelan Doris during a Leinster Rugby captain's run at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

Not many Mayo men can have looked to Hill 16 for support down the years but Caelan Doris is banking on the famous terrace to do its bit and help a different band of boys in blue to go all the way on Saturday.

Born and bred in the Connacht county, Doris moved to Dublin to attend boarding school at the age of 12 and the Ireland back row will captain Leinster when they face Northampton Saints in their Champions Cup semi-final in Croke Park.

He is far from the only man on the Leinster roster or staff whose county allegiances fall outside the capital but they are all anticipating an 82,000 crowd that will be overwhelmingly cheering on the ’12 County Army’ this time.

“I’ve always stayed well away from it,” he joked of the famous Hill that will be full to the brim for the visit of the English league leaders. “I’ve been up the other end thankfully but tomorrow the plan is for it all to be Leinster, which is going to be class.

“Standing is naturally conducive to a bit more energy and a bit more noise so hopefully that will be coming from them. With the long weekend as well, I think fans are going to be pretty keen so I’m looking forward to it.” 

The very fact that a Mayo man will be captaining a side at Croke Park was always going to attract some levity on social media. One poster on Twitter suggested that it was tempting fate given the county’s wait for a senior men’s All-Ireland title stretching back to 1951.

Caelan Doris with a gaelic football during a Leinster Rugby captain's run at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

There have, of course, been Mayo men up the Hogan Stand steps in the meantime. The county team has won five National League titles in the 73 years since while Ballina Stephenites and Crossmolina have claimed All-Ireland club titles at HQ.

Injuries to Garry Ringrose and James Ryan, the official co-captains, have thrust Doris into the position for the biggest game in the club’s season so far and he is understandably thrilled to be experiencing the famous stadium from the ground up.

“I’ve been in the stands plenty of times, for some good days as well as plenty of bad ones. It’s class. Like Leo said, it is an iconic stadium for Irish culture. We feel very fortunate as a group to have a crack there tomorrow.

“We have Declan Darcy [former selector with the Dublin footballers] in with us, who has been with us for the last couple of years. His message to us was it [Croke Park] magnifies your performance, whether it is a good one or a bad one.

“Our plan, our prep over the last two weeks has been about getting our best performance and hopefully that will get the crowd involved, build an atmosphere and make it a special days for us. It’s been a good couple of weeks prep and we are excited for tomorrow.” 

Doris won’t be of a mind to think any further than this last four tie but having the armband in such a high stakes encounter only adds to the impression of a man who is considered captaincy material for his country whenever Peter O’Mahony’s term is done.

Now 26, Doris captained the Ireland U20s six years ago. He led Leinster for the first time over the most recent festive period, against Ulster, and he was handed the honour for the first time with Ireland for the Six Nations tie against Italy in February.

“It does get easier with time. Like with anything, initially when you are thrown into a new role it’s a little bit daunting and more responsibility, a bit more pressure and nerves that come with that. With time and with reps each week it does get a little bit easier.

“I was chatting to Jack [Conan] pre-captain’s run and he was asking me if I would be nervous tomorrow. There are more nerves as captain, you feel a little more responsibility to the team to get the performance right and little bit more stake in it.

“There will be more nerves but I am excited as well.”