With the Six Nations set to kick off at the start of February, there is still a lingering question over who will captain Ireland during the tournament.
Johnny Sexton's retirement means that the role is currently vacant, with Andy Farrell having given no indication as to who will replace the 38-year old.
There are no shortage of candidates in the current squad. Peter O'Mahony would be next in line for the role, although his advancing years may mean that Farrell looks for a more long-term solution. Garry Ringrose and James Ryan are also in the frame for the gig, with that pair currently sharing the captaincy duties with Leinster.
Caelan Doris is another name that has gained some momentum in recent weeks.
The 25-year old is one of the first names on the Ireland team sheet at the moment, while he also had experience captaining his country at U20 level. Some have been tipping him for the role, although it seems the player himself has other ideas.
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Leinster man distances himself from Ireland captaincy race
Speaking after Leinster's convincing victory over Stade Francais at the weekend, Caelan Doris was asked about the prospect of him being the next Ireland captain. It's fair to say that he sees it is an unlikely one. He also summed up how he felt he performed when deputising as Leinster captain during the side's loss to Ulster earlier this month.
It would obviously be a massive honour but to be honest I think there's quite a few ahead of me in the pecking order.
Myself and Hugo [Keenan] have been in the leadership for the last couple of years and it’s been a good learning curve and I’m eager to continue to add more and develop my leadership more but there’s guys there ahead of me I think would do a great job...
I enjoyed it (captaining Leinster), it was disappointing, the result, but it was a pretty cool thing to do.
You're dealing with the ref obviously a little bit during the game, communication in huddles, making sure everyone is on top of little bits, you are less focused on your game, you’re kind of taking a wider perspective.
I probably struggled a little bit. I was probably initially eager to talk to Frank [Murphy, the referee] after both of their tries because I thought there was a knock-on on one and a potential ahead of kicking but I was wrong on both and I annoyed him a little bit doing that and struggled a little bit from there.
A bit of a learning curve.
It certainly seems as though Caelan Doris has not been given any indication by Andy Farrell that he will be the next Ireland captain.
With the squad for the Six Nations set to be named later this week, you would imagine that we will receive some clarification on the appointment over the coming days.
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