Just five days after Doris sustained his injury Maro Itoje was confirmed as Farrell’s Lions skipper, leaving the Irishman facing into into a very different summer.
As it turned out, while a sizeable cohort of his Ireland team-mates battled the Wallabies in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney, Doris was some 7,000 miles away, getting away from it all in the United States.
“The second two, I was doing a bit of a retreat and a digital detox, I didn’t have access to the games,” he explained.
“I watched them in retrospect. It was a funny one because there’s obviously the pain of it, but some of my best mates are over there playing and I’m a rugby fan as well. I was keen to keep an eye on it at the same time.”
While only 27, Doris has a lot of miles on the clock. Before his injury, he played in 44 of Ireland’s past 45 games, 43 of which were starts.
With a busy domestic season contributing to an unforgiving playing schedule, it is perhaps unsurprising to hear that Doris “loved” being detached from screens and rugby.
“The first day was a little bit challenging, you kind of miss the evening scroll,” he admitted.
“By day two, it was great, I didn’t miss it at all. I was reluctant to go back on my phone.
“I suppose separating who I am from what I do was an overarching goal for the period, building more self-awareness and exploration around that kind of thing.”
When asked if that was difficult, he replied: “It’s definitely hard to do when you’re playing because it’s all encompassing. That’s why I saw this as an opportunity to step away for the first few months in particular. I found it pretty beneficial.”
