Ireland vs Japan: Caelan Doris is ready to lead the Irish again after injury setback and digital detox

Just five days after Doris’ injury, Maro Itoje was confirmed as Farrell’s Lions captain, leaving the Irishman facing a very different summer.

As it turned out, while a large group of Irish teammates were battling the Wallabies in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney, Doris was some 7,000 miles away, away from it all in the States.

“For two seconds, I was doing some isolation and digital detox, and I wasn’t able to access games,” he explained.

“I watched them in retrospect. It was funny because there was obviously pain, but some of my best mates play there and I’m a rugby fan too. I was keen to watch him at the same time.”

Even though Doris is only 27 years old, she has a lot of miles on the clock. Before his injury, he played in 44 of Ireland’s 45 matches, 43 of which were starts.

With a busy domestic season contributing to an unforgiving playing schedule, it is perhaps not surprising to hear that Doris “loved” the break away from screens and rugby.

“The first day was a bit challenging, and you kind of missed the evening pass,” he admitted.

“On the second day, it was great, and I didn’t miss it at all. I was hesitant to go back to my phone again.

“I think separating my identity from what I do was an overarching goal for this period, which was to build more self-awareness and exploration around that kind of thing.”

When asked if that was difficult, he replied: “It’s definitely difficult to do when you’re playing because it’s all-encompassing. That’s why I saw it as an opportunity to get away from the first few months in particular. I found that very helpful.”