‘The Leadership Group Has Been Growing Well’ – Goodman

Doris, Ronán Kelleher (neck), and Tadhg Furlong, who continues to make progress with a calf issue, have been ruled out of the Guinness Men’s Six Nations third round trip to Cardiff, meaning a change of captain and some switches up front.

The injury Doris sustained against Scotland brings to an end his superb run of 42 consecutive Test appearances which stretches back to July 2021. All bar one of those were starts, with 32 outings at number 8, eight at blindside flanker, and two in the openside berth.

His big presence in the back row, b0th in terms of physicality and leadership, has helped Ireland to win back-to-back Six Nations titles, as well as making history by winning the 2022 series in New Zealand and drawing last year’s one in South Africa.

Of the current squad, only Conor Murray has maintained a longer spell in international action (44 Tests), while Ireland great Willie John McBride holds the national record of 52 consecutive Test appearances.

As vital a player as Doris has become, interim head coach Simon Easterby is blessed with back row depth, including a British & Irish Lions number 8 in Jack Conan, who has been in brilliant form off the bench. He also has Peter O’Mahony, James Ryan, and others as potential skippers.

“It’s an amazing stat, I saw that the other day,” Goodman said of Doris’ 42-match run. “It’s credit to him and the form he has been in the last few years, but there are guys ready to go (for Saturday).

“We have got great cover at 8, and I’m sure the guy that fills that jersey will do a great job. We have a competitive squad and we’re happy that we’ve got 35, 36 bodies in here at the moment that we’d all be confident to chuck out in any game.

“The boys are competing hard in training and there’s going to be some opportunities for some boys to put their hand up that may not have featured so far, so it’s exciting for them.

“Some guys there that have been playing well for their provinces in those positions that are ready for an opportunity. It’s always a good energy around the group when there is someone coming in to play a game.”

In terms of the captaincy role, O’Mahony, who came back into the starting XV against Scotland last time out, led Ireland to Six Nations glory last year, and second row Ryan captained his country on seven occasions between 2020 and 2023.

Goodman also pointed to some other players with captaincy experience with their provinces, noting: “There are some good leaders in the squad. We are going through that process.

Obviously the leadership group has been growing well over the last couple of years and there’s a number of guys who have captained their provinces. So we have got some good options to choose from there.

“Guys like Pete O’Mahony and Jack Conan that have captained their provinces. Dan Sheehan has, Ringer (Garry Ringrose), JR (James Ryan), Cian Prendergast – there are a number of guys with leadership experience, so a few possibilities there.”

The New Zealander, who is coaching in his first Six Nations tournament, says the coaching group remains hopeful that Doris, Kelleher, and Furlong will be available to face France in round 4, given they are all ‘making good progress’ while ‘going through their processes with the physios’.

First things first, a fired-up Wales need to be dealt with, and the fact that Saturday’s game is their first outing on home soil in 2025 – and a debut for interim head coach Matt Sherratt following Warren Gatland’s departure – means that Ireland cannot afford to take their eye off the ball.

It may have been discouraging start to the Championship for Wales with back-to-back defeats and only two tries scored, but given the calibre of player in their ranks, including captain Jac Morgan, and 2021 Lions duo Taulupe Faletau and Josh Adams, they will relish this shot at the table toppers.

The Principality Stadium has been a tough place for Ireland to get a result, with losses in 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2021. However, a barnstorming start two years ago led them to a 34-10 bonus point win, and they are now aiming to win consecutive away games against Wales in the Championship for the first time since 2007-2009.

Goodman insisted: “To be honest, there’s no chance (of complacency) in this group. The way the preparation has been from the playing group is as good as any other week.

“When you look at the history of Ireland-Wales over the last 10 years, over there it hasn’t been a nice place for us to go on a number of occasions.

“We know they’re back at home and there will be a bit of a natural bounce with a new coach coming in, so I don’t think there’s any chance of any complacency from this group going over there.”

Meanwhile, in a significant move to support spectators and viewers with colour vision deficiency (CVD), Ireland will wear their new alternate white kit for this weekend’s encounter with Wales in Cardiff.

This decision, driven by new World Rugby regulations, aims to prevent kit clashes that can be problematic for those affected by CVD.

Colour vision deficiency, commonly known as colour blindness, affects approximately one in 12 men and one in 200 women.

The traditional red jerseys of Wales and the green jerseys of Ireland create a challenging visual scenario for those with CVD, making it difficult to distinguish between the two teams on the pitch.