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Caelan Doris on Prendergast, England and his 'extra responsibilities'

By PA
Caelan Doris and Sam Prendergast - PA

Captain Caelan Doris is braced for the “ultimate test” when Ireland begin their quest for an unprecedented third successive Guinness Six Nations title against rivals England.

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The back-to-back champions are pre-tournament favourites and have won four of the past five meetings between the sides ahead of Saturday evening’s crunch clash in Dublin.

Underdogs England – World Cup semi-finalists in 2023 – lost seven of 12 Tests in 2024 and are bidding to ease pressure on head coach Steve Borthwick by springing a surprise following an unsuccessful autumn.

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    Despite that unconvincing record, Borthwick’s men ultimately denied Ireland consecutive Grand Slams thanks to a last-gasp 23-22 Twickenham win in round four of last year’s championship.

    “It’s always the ultimate test coming up against these guys,” said Doris.

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    “There’s a rich history and a massive rivalry there over the last number of years.

    “We’d had a pretty good run (last year), fourth round going in over there and there was a lot of belief, we also respected them massively and knew that there was a big performance brewing from them.

    “They obviously hadn’t gone so well at that point but you look back six months prior to that and they’re in a World Cup semi-final.

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    “It’s similar now in that they’ve been on the wrong side of some of their results in the autumn but we have massive respect for them as a team and the quality in their squad.

    “It’s going to be a big battle for us again tomorrow. They are always very abrasive, confrontational, strong set piece, very good lineout and maul and they maul more than most teams.

    Caelen Doris
    Caelan Doris – PA

    “Starting off here in Dublin against England, it doesn’t get much better or bigger than this.”

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    In his first selection standing in for Andy Farrell as head coach, interim boss Simon Easterby has opted to pick 21-year-old Sam Prendergast ahead of Jack Crowley at fly-half.

    Prendergast made his Test debut as a replacement in Ireland’s win against Argentina in November before starting the subsequent victories over Fiji and Australia.

    Doris insists the squad have a “lot of faith” in his “very confident” Leinster team-mate.

    “He’s shown his quality, first of all at under-20s; some of the stuff he was capable of doing back then caught the eye definitely and he’s probably had quite a big reputation from that,” Doris said of Prendergast.

    “He’s carried through and shown his quality at URC (United Rugby Championship), at European level and at international level in the autumn.

    Sam Prendergast
    Sam Prendergast and Mack Hansen – PA

    “It’s been a good ride for him and he’s a very confident guy and loves controlling the forwards, loves playing what’s in front of him, so there’s a lot of faith in him.”

    No team has won three Six Nations titles in a row since the competition was expanded 25 years ago.

    Back-rower Doris, who took over the captaincy from Peter O’Mahony before the autumn campaign, hopes to lead a historic championship triumph.

    “It would be incredibly special,” said the 26-year-old. “It’s hard to cast your mind forward to that, given how big a game this is starting up.

    “We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, definitely, but we also realise that getting this weekend right is a crucial step if we want to go and do something special like that.

    “I love being a part of this group. I’ve loved it for the last five years and every time I come back into camp there is excitement there.

    “There are extra responsibilities now in the leadership role but I love it.”

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    Comments on RugbyPass

    R
    RedWarriors 13 minutes ago
    The Springbok selection experiment is far from over

    SA and NZ were the main countries “Whining” about the draw that put SA/NZ/IRE/FRA all on the same side of the draw. Ireland, France and Scotland are well used to it. Most countries have come face to face with the biased draw and scheduling many times since the RWC was inaugurated in 1987.

    Everyone agreed the draw was a farce , but yes someone had to pox their way through and that was SA. You get to play a France team in the QF before they have a knock out win under their belt. You won as the inferior team, the world saw that. If the draw had been harder for SA and you were scheduled to play Scotland the week before then you were out.

    England were stronger for most of the match with a 9 point lead with 10 to go. They will be massively disapointed to lose from there especially with the non peanalty awarded at the end.

    Lastly, you needed a red card to beat NZ. 100%. Not in doubt. It was a 1 point game. You were losing without the red.

    SA beat what was in front of them. Not in doubt. That they were lucky is not in doubt either. That the draw made the win significantly easier for SA to get past the QF, is not in doubt either. You play France in the SF or final, you are losing badly.

    So well done on teh wins. But less stop with the ‘Are SA the greatest team in history” rubbish.

    ‘Butt hurt’? Thats an Americanism to imply homosexuality? On about raping women now lobbing homophobic comments. Some of you Saffers, past and present have a very very disturbing attitude…historically and present day.

    54 Go to comments
    N
    NB 2 hours ago
    Have England suddenly become a 'lucky' team?

    I think you need to look at some examples in order to get your facts straight.


    If you look at the second gif in the article https://imgur.com/a/6QNcVtB#NG27wFf , you can see that Scotland are running the shape I describe, and the ‘flat option’ does not actively impede a tackler so has no need to retreat.


    Ditto this one https://imgur.com/a/hNktXel#gbQSsT4 . There is no significant contact with a defender by the flat option, so why does it need to [over-]refereed?


    I feel you’re trying to address an issue that exists mostly in your own imagination, not one that exists out on the field of play.

    83 Go to comments
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