'No passengers': Doris eager for Ireland to apply Paris lessons against England

Ireland captain Caelan Doris said his side were "waiting for things to happen, waiting for someone else to do something" in the Six Nations defeat to France. They aim to ensure that does not happen against England on Saturday

Calean Doris on facing England: "For sure, there's an eagerness to hunt them down, to get after them, to show what we're about." Pic: ©INPHO/Billy Stickland

Caelan Doris said his Ireland side will be looking to hunt England down at Twickenham on Saturday but the captain stressed their Guinness Six Nations fortunes this weekend were reliant on getting off to a fast start.

Both teams go into this round three showdown with a win apiece from the first two rounds of the 2026 championship, with Ireland beaten heavily, 36-14, in France on the opening night before rebounding with a 20-13 win at home to Italy. England began their campaign with a 48-7 hammering of Wales on home soil before a Calcutta Cup loss to Scotland in Edinburgh which ended a 12-Test winning run.

Doris’s side remain underdogs for this mission away from home but the captain insisted the tag was not being used to light a fire under his Ireland team.

“I think there's always enough motivation playing against England,” Doris said on Friday following the captain’s run training session at Twickenham. “Over here as well is an added element anyway.

“For sure, there's an eagerness to hunt them down, to get after them, to show what we're about. We feel there's an ability and plenty of potential within the team. We want to show as much of that tomorrow as possible.” 

Ireland would love to emulate Scotland’s fast start at Murrayfield last Saturday when they raced into an early 17-0 lead to shock the English.

“A fast start, it's going to be important, especially away from home,” No.8 Doris said. “Trying to get a little bit of scoreboard pressure, get our fans, hopefully there'll be quite a few of them over, into it. But also take that away from England.

“So, yeah, that's going to be important. I think some set-piece dominance as well. England thrive when they're dominant in that area.

“They're obviously quite pragmatic with how they play the game and don't want to play too many phases in their own half. So, trying to get that balance right as well.” 

Asked to expand on the keys to making a fast start, the Irish skipper said: “I think a balance between proper clarity, calmness, but also intent from the start.

“Some of it probably plays into the 48 hours pre-game and the mood and nerves, being at the right level and getting that right.

“I feel we're in a pretty good place. We've just had a good training session there. Like I said, there's good eagerness about getting stuck in.” 

Doris also added that the lessons from Ireland’s last away game in Paris a fortnight ago had been taken on board by Andy Farrell’s squad.

“There wasn't enough intent. Obviously, last week it was the word of the week. It's been similar this week in that we need to bring more of that tomorrow.

“It felt a little bit passive at times in Paris. There's a bit of waiting for things to happen, waiting for someone else to do something. All hands on deck tomorrow. No passengers, everyone getting stuck in will be the message.” 

Doris will be at the forefront of delivering that message on the pitch alongside fly-half Jack Crowley, selected in the number 10 jersey ahead of Sam Prendergast, who has been left at home with Ciaran Frawley covering fly-half, inside centre and full-back from the bench. Ireland’s captain praised the 26-year-old Crowley’s impact off the bench in the win over Italy and his handling of the pre-game preparations this week.

“In terms of the week, obviously the 10 has a big part in leading the attack during the week, so Jack's been great at doing that this week.

“He's an exciting attacking runner, obviously. I think he was very good last week when he came on and brought another level to our attack, so I'm excited to see him with ball in hand and making things happen tomorrow.”