Simon Easterby: Ireland head coach backs captain Caelan Doris to lead charge for Six Nations glory
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The spotlight is certainly pinned on Ireland’s interim head coach Simon Easterby, who will take the reins of the national side for the first time this Saturday. Ireland take on England in the opening round of the 2025 Men’s Guinness Six Nations, with Easterby taking up the mantle in the absence of regular head coach Andy Farrell, who is away with his own British & Irish Lions commitments.
Easterby’s Ireland captain for the tournament is Caelan Doris, with the Leinster back row set to build upon his captaincy at provincial level. The number eight has been a pivotal part of Leinster’s unbeaten start to their 2024/25 URC and Champions Cup campaigns, and Easterby is eager to see the back row bruiser roll the same form into his international appearances, as arguably the best number eight in the world.
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“You only have to see what he’s done for Leinster. Caelan’s got a really good way about him. He’s first and foremost, a great guy. He leads by example, but he’s also finding his own way to do things in his captaincy. He’s supported in Leinster by a couple of senior players, as he is in the Irish system as well. He’s definitely someone that when the big occasion comes, he steps up, and he’s proven that for Ireland, and also, more recently, for Leinster.
“He has 47 caps now, and he’s done that pretty quickly. Since he’s come in, he hasn’t missed many games. He’s very durable, he’s robust, he looks after himself, both physically and mentally, and I think that’s been a big strength of his. He’s had disappointments in his career, but he’s gotten over those quickly, and he’s found a way to keep performing. That’s the mark of the man, and I think that will be part of his leadership style over the next six to eight weeks.”
With Andy Farrell set to cast a keen eye across the 2025 Six Nations fixtures, a spot on the British & Irish Lions tour is all the more incentive for Doris to elevate his game as Ireland’s captain. Despite the allure of the iconic red jersey, Easterby doubts to think that the Lions are even on Doris’ mind, with his skipper’s sole focus being to win the upcoming championship with Ireland.
“I think he understands that playing well in an Irish Jersey will be reflected then in the summer (for the Lions). As every other player will, and in every country, to be honest. So it’s easy to for you guys (the media) to look at selection for that, but genuinely, the players will only be thinking about playing as well as they can in whatever jersey they wear. For us, the Irish jersey.
“Yes, they’ll be up against individuals that they might be competing for (places against) in the Lions, that adds another layer to it. But, first and foremost, our players are genuinely, massively motivated to perform and play well for Ireland. Then off the back of that, usually the results are that they get what they deserve.”
Another man who will certainly be amongst the conversation for the British & Irish Lions tour, is the newly appointed England captain Maro Itoje. The lock is set to lead England in his first official Test this Saturday, with Andy Farrell expected to keep a watchful eye out for a potential Lions skipper. Keeping to an England context, Easterby doesn’t think that Itoje will alter his performance on the pitch in any way, despite the newfound responsibilities of being captain.
“Maro, he’s led from the front, hasn’t he, for a number of years for England. So I don’t see him changing too much. He has to obviously do a little bit more interaction with referees, and other than the ones where he’s been sanctioned! So, it’s going to be a little bit more for him to manage those situations. As it is with every captain, it’s slightly different for him, but I don’t see that change too much.”
“Always, with individuals in every team, you’ll feel there are guys that if they play well, then their team generally plays well. Maro is certainly one of those, along with another number of England players that have experience. But, when England play well, he’s usually been at the forefront of that, he leads by example, he’s a talisman for them and I think he’s an obvious choice for Steve (Borthwick) to name as his captain. He’s a challenging prospect for us.”
Easterby has been a member of the IRFU staff since 2014, yet the former back row has never before experienced the hot seat of Irish rugby’s top coaching job. The 49-year-old feels ‘very lucky’ to have the opportunity to head up the side, with preparations well underway for the opening round match in Dublin. Whilst the Ireland training camp is nothing new for the 11 year veteran of the Irish senior men’s coaching squad, Easterby admitted how he is getting to grips with the additional aspects of the role.
“I think there’s a few more things to deal with, this (Six Nations media launch) being one of them. I want to embrace it, I’ve loved my time working under Joe (Schmidt) and under Faz (Andy Farrell) and to get to work with good people every day. Not just the coaching group, the staff that we get to work with every day, the players, an unbelievable group of people that are striving in one direction to try and do something special. So, yeah, I’m really fortunate.
“I’ve been very lucky to be in this position now, after 10 or 11 years in an assistant role, I genuinely feel fortunate that I’ve had that long in the role. It’s an opportunity for me to try and make sure that we kick on, keep evolving and keep getting better, because we’re going to have to be successful this year.”
In a move that could well benefit Easterby’s time in charge of the side, the former Scarlets man was given the opportunity to lead Emerging Ireland on a recent tour of South Africa. Andy Farrell played no part in last Autumn’s expedition, with Easterby’s side securing an impressive 3-0 clean sweep across the land of the Springboks.
“I’ve taken a young team, the Emerging team, to South Africa. We’ve done that twice over the last couple of years, and that’s been beneficial for us as a coaching group. Faz hasn’t been on those trips, even though he’s been big part of the arrangements and selection. It’s so that other coaches in the system had an opportunity to lead, one of those being myself. So that’s been a really useful exercise, and to get to know some of the younger players in the system as well, which has helped.”
Despite there being a new man at the helm of the Ireland squad, there is a definite feel of consistency flowing throughout the playing group. The selected squad is much of the same from the previous year’s competition, with Easterby hammering home the need for continuity throughout the side, who are out for a history making first ever Six Nations three-peat.
“I’m hugely excited about the group of players. We’ve got to work with the coaches for continuity in selection. It’s not a lot of change from the Autumn, not a lot of change from last Six Nations, but the players are a year older. They’ve got a year’s more experience, the ones that have been around for that long, and I think that they’re also hugely motivated to go on and keep being successful and staying ahead of head of the other teams.”
Despite the necessity for cohesion and consistency within the Ireland squad, one area of the side that looks rather undecided is fly half. Whilst there has been plenty of debate around England’s fly half selection saga since Owen Farrell’s exit, a definite power struggle emerged in Ireland following Jonny Sexton’s retirement. Munster’s Jack Crowley, and the Leinster trio of Ross Byrne, Ciaran Frawley and Sam Prendergast are considered to be the leading names for the famous green 10 jersey.
Byrne played no part in Ireland’s latest Autumn Series with a Six Nations inclusion ambitious at best, as he sustained an arm injury in an Irish provincial clash with Munster. The starting 10 shirt was shared between Crowley and Prendergast throughout the latest Autumn campaign, with Frawley making two replacement appearances against New Zealand and Fiji. Easterby narrowed his scope down on his halfback contenders, with a key decision set to be made ahead of the opening round of the 2025 Six Nations.
“Those two (Crowley and Prendergast) in particular have come in with a bit of form as well. I thought Jack played really well in Northampton, even though Munster lost of game, I thought they were good. I thought they played really well, and there were fine margins from the game towards Northampton. Sam has had a great opportunity in Leinster since we broke up from the November internationals, and he’s really taken that.
“Ciaran Frawley’s had a few injuries, which meant that Sam has been able to probably spend more time in that jersey, which has been great for us. I think there’s always a balance between who starts and who sits on the bench. That guy who’s off the bench can often have a massive influence, as Jack did in the Autumn, as Ciaran Frawley did in South Africa.
“So, I think the dynamics of whoever starts and whoever’s on the bench, can work from week to week. You need someone to start the game well, of course you do. But, you also need someone that’s strong enough and ballsy enough to come on and do something like Ciaran Frawley did in South Africa.”
What Easterby is referring to, was an incredible moment in the career of the Leinster fly half. With just one minute remaining on the clock in the final Test of the Summer series, Frawley nailed a match winning drop goal, to record a famous away victory over the Springboks. It was the halfback’s second successful drop goal of the 25-24 win, with Easterby expressing his thoughts on the rather ‘under utilised’ skill. With the memory of the 2024 Six Nations, and Marcus Smith’s match winner, polarising Frawley’s heroics from the Summer in South Africa, Easterby has certainly experienced both sides of the drop goal coin.
“I think the drop goal is probably under utilized. Like I said earlier, Ciaran Frawley dropped two in South Africa, and one of them to win the game. I think the one that Marcus (Smith) kicked was actually a penalty advantage, so he probably had an easier opportunity to kick a penalty to win the game, because we’d conceded a penalty close to the line. But those things they create a little bit of drama, don’t they?
“For the team that gets that drop goal, it’s a special moment, as we experienced in South Africa in the summer. The team that comes on the back end of a drop goal, like we experienced against England, it can be devastating at the end of a game. But, that’s another way of a team scoring points, and sometimes there’s not a lot you can do about it. Because, a 10 is sat so far back, you can’t get pressure on him. But it’s certainly something that we would always try to do, to try to look at opportunities to score, and also for us to try and reduce the threats of those scorers.”
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