Caelan Doris


Caelan Doris is an Irish rugby union player for Pro14 and European Rugby Champions Cup side Leinster. He plays as a number 8 or flanker.

Early life and education

Born in Lacken, Mayo to Dublin parents, Doris' first involvement with rugby was with Ballina. He attended boarding school from the age of 12 onwards at Blackrock College in Dublin, where he was a member of the victorious Leinster Schools Rugby Senior Cup team in 2014 as well as captaining the 2016 side. Doris currently studies psychology at University College Dublin.

Leinster

After leaving school in 2016, Doris spent a year in the Leinster sub-academy before entering the academy in summer 2017. After a series of strong performances captaining the Ireland Under-20s, Doris was promoted two years early to Leinster's senior squad ahead of the 2018–19 season, after just one year in the academy, and having made his senior debut the previous season.

Ireland

Doris played for Ireland Under-20s in both 2017 and 2018, captaining them in the 2018 World Rugby Under 20 Championship. Despite a poor campaign from Ireland, he was one of the standout players of the tournament. He has 14 Ireland under-20 caps despite being injured for the entire 2018 Six Nations Under 20 Championship. Doris received his first call up to the senior Ireland squad for the 2020 Six Nations Championship, and made his debut when he started at number 8 in Ireland's opening fixture against Scotland on 1 February 2020, though a concussion meant that Doris' debut lasted only four minutes.