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12th September 2024
01:42pm BST
Ireland number eight Caelan Doris has been announced as the new Leinster captain.
The 26-year-old from Ballina replaces co-captains James Ryan and Garry Ringrose, who were appointed just last season after Johnny Sexton retired.
Doris will lead his province through the 2024/25 season, and this new honour will be seen as a major stride towards captaining the British and Irish Lions next year.
The young star is viewed as the main contender to replace Peter O’Mahony as Ireland skipper whenever the time comes, and was voted the Rugby Players Ireland Players’ Player of the Year in 2023.
Speaking about the announcement, Doris said: "It’s a massive privilege for me to be leading this group. I’m fortunate to have so many quality players and staff around me whose advice and input will be crucial.
"It was special to get the opportunity to captain Leinster several times last season and I’m excited to do the same again this year.
"There’s no shortage of ambition within this group and we’re all looking forward to the new season and representing the supporters, our communities, and the 12 counties of Leinster in the Aviva Stadium, Croke Park and beyond."
The number 8 made his Leinster debut against Connacht in April 2018 and within a year regular feature in Leo Cullen’s match-day squads.
His form with Leinster saw him make his Ireland debut against Scotland in the 2020 Six Nations and he was also named the 2020 Pro14 Young Player of the Year that season.
O Captain! My Captain! 🫡
— Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) September 12, 2024
💙 @caelan_doris has been named by Head Coach Leo Cullen as Leinster Rugby Men's captain ahead of the new season.
📰 Read all about it here: https://t.co/b6e8Wi4ufC#FromTheGroundUp pic.twitter.com/bBtkdLWrei
Since then he has played a total of 83 times for Leinster and has been capped on 43 occasions by Ireland.
Cullen had high praise for his new skipper.
"We’re delighted to announce Caelan Doris as Leinster captain for the forthcoming season," he said.
"Caelan has come off an exceptional 12 months, beginning at last year’s Rugby World Cup and culminating with him captaining Ireland to victory over world champions South Africa in Durban this summer.
"Over the course of last season, our supporters will have seen not only how Caelan performed himself, but how he grew into the captaincy role when given that opportunity both with Leinster and Ireland."
He added: "He is an outstanding leader and a natural choice to lead Leinster into what we hope will be an exciting season."
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