Andy Farrell’s options to captain Ireland appear to have been reduced by one spot after Caelan Doris said he was too inexperienced for the role.
The number eight’s name has been bandied about alongside the likes of James Ryan, Peter O’Mahony, Garry Ringrose and Dan Sheehan.
Mr Doris also received support from former Ireland hooker Bernard Jackman, who believed he could be a “dark horse” in leadership responsibilities.
However, the talented back-row disagrees with Jackman and believes there are players better suited for the position in Farrell at the moment.
lower the pecking order
“It’s obviously a huge honour, but to be honest I think there are quite a few people ahead of me in the top rankings,” he said.
“Myself and Hugo (Kiernan) have been in the leadership group for a few years now and it has been a great learning curve. I want to continue to lead and develop my leadership further. .”
“But there are players ahead of me who have done a great job.”
Although Doris did not have much experience as a captain, he captained Leinster when they lost to Ulster in the United Rugby Championship.
“It was interesting because it didn’t last all week,” he said.
“James Ryan was scheduled to play, but later that week (he missed). He was doing a lot of the heavy lifting early on, which was definitely an honor for me. I was made captain. Quite a few years have passed since then.
“I also got a sense of appreciation for their work because on captains run days and match days, they take on quite a bit of extra responsibility, just the little things that you wouldn’t think of.
“During the match, I was obviously dealing with the referee a little bit, communicating in the huddle, making sure everyone was on the same page little by little, and my concentration on my own game waned, and I had to look at the bigger picture. I have some.”
What Doris Learned
Leinster suffered a very rare home defeat in that Interpro, with Ulster returning to Belfast with an impressive 22-21 win at the RDS Arena.
And Doris admitted he had a lot to learn, especially about how to deal with referee Frank Murphy during contests.
“I probably initially wanted to talk to Frank after both tries because one had a knock-on and I thought it was a possibility before I kicked it,” he added.
“But I was wrong on both occasions, and that frustrated him a little bit, and I struggled a little bit from there. There’s a little bit of a learning curve.
“The result was disappointing, but it was a great thing.”
read more: Brian O’Driscoll makes bold statement about Andy Farrell’s future in Ireland