Caelan Doris: The 'definitely pleasing' aspect of Ireland's imperfect Six Nations

Captain Caelan Doris is confident Ireland are moving in the right direction after being denied the Guinness Six Nations title in dramatic fashion.

Andy Farrell’s side were seconds away from championship glory when Thomas Ramos landed a last-gasp penalty to retain the title for France with a gripping 48-46 win over England.

Ireland had moved top of the standings after the opening match of “Super Saturday” by clinching a fourth Triple Crown in five years thanks to a 43-21 bonus-point win over Scotland in Dublin.

Doris and his team-mates then found themselves in the unusual position of cheering on rivals England in Paris, only to have their title dreams dashed in agonising style.

From the ashes of a comprehensive 36-14 defeat at Stade de France on the opening night of the tournament, Ireland finished with four wins in a row.

Six Nations

P

W

L

D

PF

PA

PD

BP T

BP-7

BP

Total

1

France

5

4

1

0

21

2

Ireland

5

4

1

0

19

3

Scotland

5

3

2

0

16

4

Italy

5

2

3

0

9

5

England

5

1

4

0

8

6

Wales

5

1

4

0

6

“It’s been a good journey throughout, said Doris, who was a standout performer against the Scots.

“I think we probably showed good resolve in bouncing back.

“The Italy performance (a 20-13 win in round two) wasn’t great, but we still got the win here at home and it’s been fairly linear in terms of trajectory since then.

“It’s a great group, there’s depth building there, there’s competition building within the squad.

“We’re moving things in the right way and it’s been enjoyable chasing down the potential and seeing some of the growth over the last number of weeks.”

The heavy round-one loss in Paris fuelled talk of Ireland being an ageing squad in terminal decline.

But they subsequently quietened their critics, notably with a record 42-21 victory away to England in round three and a stirring finale to deny the Scots their first Triple Crown since 1990.

“The Triple Crown, it’s special, “said Doris. “We reflected on that during the week and how until the last 15 years or so that it’s not a commonly-done thing here. So we’ll enjoy that for what it is.

“The growth throughout that we’ve seen, it’s a pretty satisfying way to finish up versus if you look at last year. We obviously won four out of five last year as well, but I think our performance probably dipped towards the end.

“To finish with that performance is definitely pleasing.”

With a host of first-team players sidelined, head coach Farrell used a national-record 35 players during the championship.

Ireland return to action in July with fixtures against Australia, Japan and New Zealand in the inaugural Nations Championship, with the 2027 World Cup on the horizon.

Farrell said: “We talked during the week about the next 18 months and how we’re going to map it out and what we’re trying to chase down.

“The thing is making sure that you grow the squad to be able to do that and therefore grow the belief on the back of it.

“With the injuries coming back – some of them won’t be back for that tour – and seeing the rest of the lads who now 100 per cent believe this is their team and they’re able to deliver for their team at this type of level, it’s only going to make us stronger as a squad.”