"Emotions will be there" – Caelan Doris: Ireland captain wants to keep a level head for Six Nations opener against England

Yesterday at 05:18 AM

The opening round of the 2025 Men’s Guinness Six Nations is upon us, with Ireland setting out to defend their crown as reigning champions this Saturday. The opening round battle with England will be a real test for the men from the Emerald Isle, who will be without their regular head coach Andy Farrell due to his British & Irish Lions commitments.

Simon Easterby has been backed to stand in for as interim head coach, with back row Caelan Doris named as captain for the 2025 Six Nations. The Leinster bruiser expressed how he anticipates emotions to be running high ahead of the opening round, with his mission objective being to keep a lid on his team and get the mindset right for when England arrive at the Aviva Stadium.

“I think, a certain amount of emotion will be necessary and will come pretty naturally to us, given like you say, that we’re playing England at home.” Doris said, at the 2025 Men’s Guinness Six Nations launch event in Rome. “It’s the first game of the Six Nations and what happened last year over there (at Twickenham) as well. I think we’ll probably plan that emotion to a certain extent, but it’s more sort of a clarity. On top of everything else, is more important getting our game plans, our preparation, right, and the emotions will be there as well.”

As Doris alluded to, the 2024 Six Nations meeting between England and Ireland was certainly a memorable one. Marcus Smith’s sharpshooting decided the match in the final play, as the fly half nailed the crucial drop goal to secure a famous 23-22 win at the Allianz Stadium. There is no looking beyond the opening round for Doris, even with the excitement of an away trip to Rome on the cards in round four.

“To be honest, I haven’t looked forward that much past England. England in Dublin, the first round is the game we’re focused on. Now, momentum is huge in the Six Nations. So if you don’t get the first one right, you’re kind of chasing it from there. Of course, it’s an unbelievable city over here (Rome). It’s been cool seeing it over the last 24 hours, and I played in the stadium two years ago. So that’s another one to look forward to. But for now, the focus is England.”

Find your local Greene King and settle in for the 2025 Six Nations!

The Ireland squad have since settled into their camp in Portugal, with a clear message delivered by the coaching staff from the first day. It’s apparent to Ireland that a target is firmly on their backs as two-time defending champions, with Doris leading the conversation on how he wants to see his teammates elevate their game even further for a never before seen Six Nations three-peat.

“Keep improving, (that’s) the main, the first and central message to our first meeting, was the need to keep evolving, keep improving. We’ve won the last couple of years, obviously, but there’s so much quality in this competition, which is what makes it such a good one. Other teams are going to continue to improve and develop rapidly, and if we don’t do the same, they’ll take over quite quickly. So there’s definitely an awareness of that.”

“It’s pretty comprehensive. We came in (to camp) and the start of the first meeting was the recognition that there’s so much competition across the other teams. Other teams are improving very rapidly, and their is the need for us to do the same. The evolution comes both in kind of adding new layers of innovation, but also getting better at doing what we’ve done well traditionally, and nailing the basics.”

Should Ireland win a third Six Nations title in a row, then this side will establish themselves as arguably the greatest generation of the modern era. No team has ever won three consecutive championships, since Italy expanded the tournament to a sextet in the 2000, and Doris can see how a third trophy in a row would leave a lasting legacy.

Despite the current success of the national side, rugby union is by no means the most popular sport across all of Ireland, as Gaelic football and hurling take precedence in the more rural parts of the country. The back row is excited in the increased popularity of rugby, and hopes to only add more fuel to this fire with a third Six Nations title.

“It’s privileged to be in this position. It’s cool to see. I grew up in the West Coast, in a place called Mayo, pretty rural area where Gaelic football would be by far the most prominent sport. So it’s kind of cool getting back there and seeing different people who wouldn’t have followed rugby 15, 10, years ago, and who now are big fans and love watching it, and get some joy and pride and satisfaction in watching the team perform and do well.”

“It’s mad that Gaelic football is amateur and hurling as well. The kind of camaraderie and community spirit that is involved within football and hurling is shared in rugby, but it’s very special to Ireland.”

“I think probably some of a lot of my generation have been inspired by the likes of Brian O’Driscoll and these guys 10, 15, years ago, when they had some success, say, the 2009 Grand Slam. Watching that inspires you. And as a group now we feel the responsibility and the desire to do the same for the next generation and to continue rugby’s growth and leave it a good place as well. So we have at some point, we’ve discussed that and take pride in it.”

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