'There’s nerves and excitement and that’s because we care': Caelan Doris

Captain Caelan Doris says Ireland have a “ton of motivation” to claim a fourth Triple Crown in five years and remain in the hunt for Guinness Six Nations glory.

Andy Farrell’s side are targeting their best performance of the championship ahead of a crunch round-five clash with title rivals Scotland in Dublin.

Defending champions France, who host beleaguered England in the final fixture of ‘Super Saturday’, begin the weekend in pole position for the title in a three-way shootout.

“There’s nerves and excitement and that’s because we care,” said Doris.

“We know what’s at stake. We know we want to get it right. We know we want to finish the tournament with our best performance yet.

“There’s obviously a Triple Crown on the line against our good old rivals Scotland so there is a lot at stake and with that comes nerves but tons of excitement as well.

“A week like this there is a ton of motivation, a ton of excitement about the place.

“There’s been a good buzz in camp all week.”

Ireland and Scotland each bounced back from opening defeats to remain in contention for the ultimate prize.

While the hosts, who were back-to-back champions in 2023 and 2024, have enjoyed plenty of recent success, Scotland are seeking a first Triple Crown since 1990 and a maiden Six Nations title.

“There’s no second chance here,” said Doris. “It’s down to how we start the game, how we get into it, a fast start – like we’ve spoken about over the last couple of weeks.

“It’s going to be important again. I think taking it moment by moment and really attacking the game, understanding that the win is the most important thing.”

Head-to-Head

Last 5 Meetings

Wins

5

Draws

0

Wins

0

Average Points scored

30

15

First try wins

80%

Home team wins

60%

Ireland have won the last 11 meetings between the sides, dating back to 2018 and spanning the entire reign of Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend.

Prop Tadhg Furlong, flanker Josh van der Flier and centre Garry Ringrose are the only members of Ireland’s matchday squad to have suffered a career defeat against the Scots, having played in a 27-22 loss at Murrayfield in February 2017.

Scotland will run out at a sold-out Aviva Stadium buoyed by last weekend’s 50-40 victory over France, which set up the intriguing final day of the competition.

“I think there’s going to be a lot of confidence coming from their camp, off the back of the win and the nature of their performance last weekend, but also how they’ve been going over the last couple of weeks, (beating) England as well,” said Doris.

“They’ve got a lot of belief in what they do and how they do things and we’ve seen that in weeks gone by and when we’ve played them over the last number of years as well.

“I think they will be coming here confident.”