The 'special' reason why Caelan Doris is still backing Ireland

Captain Caelan Doris has insisted there is no sense of anti-climax in the Ireland camp as they fight to keep alive their scant hopes of Guinness Six Nations glory against Italy. Simon Easterby’s side had hoped to be running out in Rome on the cusp of an unprecedented third consecutive title and a second Grand Slam in three years.

But, following last weekend’s 42-27 hammering against France, Ireland must rely on results elsewhere to snatch the championship crown and are in serious danger of finishing third.

The reigning champions will be roared on by up to 30,000 travelling fans at a sold-out Stadio Olimpico, where retiring centurions Peter O’Mahony and Conor Murray are poised to make final Test appearances from the bench.

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Cian Healy – Ireland’s most-capped player, with 137 outings – will also bid farewell, albeit he has not been included in the match day squad. Asked if there is a feeling of what might have been, skipper Doris said: “I don’t think so.

“Obviously last week was very disappointing and it changes the nature of the end of it, but for us it’s still about finishing with our best performance. The rest is out of our control.

Six Nations

P

W

L

D

PF

PA

PD

BP T

BP-7

BP

Total

1

France

4

3

1

0

16

2

England

4

3

1

0

15

3

Ireland

4

3

1

0

14

4

Scotland

4

2

2

0

11

5

Italy

4

1

3

0

4

6

Wales

4

0

4

0

3

“But the three lads, what they have contributed, the group we have, we really want to finish with our best performance yet and that has been a key theme through the week.

“Obviously there was quite a bit of disappointment for 24, 48 hours post-game (after the France loss) and it can be tricky seeing some of the clips back and the images and the frustration around that.

“But we turned the page quite quickly and are getting excited about a special weekend over here with our best performance yet in front of 25,000 or 30,000 Irish travelling over, which will be incredibly special.”

Ireland must beat the Azzurri – ideally scoring at least four tries in the process to gain a bonus point – to stand any chance of claiming the title. They would then require England to slip up away to winless Wales and table-topping France to lose at home to Scotland in the other two Super Saturday fixtures.

Leinster back-rower Doris admitted the humiliation at the hands of the French was made more painful due to his position as skipper. The 26-year-old hopes the chastening experience ultimately proves beneficial.

“You look back at the week and take more responsibility and question could you have said different things during the week,” he said. “But naturally with the group we have, everyone sort of questions their performance.

“There is always a few moments for each person that you regret and want to change and that you hold yourself accountable for in the performance and the defeat. Definitely in the position I’m in, I feel it more than I did in the past but across the board everyone feels it.

“I hope that we can learn lessons from it this weekend but also long term knowing that we’re not where we want to be consistently at all yet. There is still so much growth in us and we really need to chase that down.”