Ireland and Leinster's Caelan Doris has distanced himself from the vacant Ireland captaincy by claiming there are a few players in the pecking order ahead of him. Doris last captained Leinster on New Year's Day in the clash loss to Ulster but has not ever worn the armband in the colour green.
Since retiring from the Irish national team, former Ireland captain Johnny Sexton has left a hole to fill. The names linked to being his full-time successor are the likes of Doris's teammates James Ryan, Gary Ringrose, Munster's Peter O'Mahony, and Ulster's Iain Henderson.
Former Leinster player Bernard Jackman claimed during the week that Doris becoming an Ireland captain for the 2024 Six Nations would be a "bolter" of a decision from Ireland's head coach Andy Farrell.
"It's a big call for Farrell. I think there's a strong chance that it'll be Caelan Doris," Jackman said on Saturday.
"I think there's a chance it'll be him because he's nailed on to start with [his] age profile. It would be a bolter from Farrell."
Doris was directly asked about potentially becoming the next Irish captain after Sexton and admitted that it would be a "massive honour" for him but that it would also be difficult because of the calibre of players in contention.
"It would obviously be a massive honour, but to be honest, I think there's quite a few ahead of me in the pecking order," he said.
"Myself and Hugo [Keenan] have been in leadership for the last couple of years, and it’s been a good learning curve, and I’m eager to continue to add more and develop my leadership, but there are guys there ahead of me that I think would do a great job."
Caelan Doris distances himself from the Ireland captaincy (Photo By Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)Doris also opened up about being captain for the first time in the narrow loss to Ulster on New Year's Day. The Mayo native expressed that he learned a lot wearing the armband, appreciated the responsibilities, and admitted that the whole experience was a "learning curve" for him as a whole.
"It was an honour for me, definitely; it had been quite a few years since I was [captain].
"I also got a sense of appreciation for the work that those lads do because there are quite a few extra responsibilities on you over the captain's run day and the day of the game, just little things that you mightn't think of.
"I enjoyed it; the result was disappointing, but it was a pretty cool thing to do.
"You're dealing with the ref obviously a little bit during the game, communication in huddles, making sure everyone is on top of little bits; you are less focused on your game; you’re kind of taking a wider perspective.
"I probably struggled a little bit. I was probably initially eager to talk to Frank [Murphy, the referee] after both of their tries because I thought there was a knock-on on one and a potential ahead of kicking, but I was wrong on both, and I annoyed him a little bit doing that and struggled a little bit from there. A bit of a learning curve," he added.
Ireland's Six Nations squad will be announced this week on January 17.
