Ireland Rugby has a storied tradition of exceptional captains, and as the Autumn Nations Series approaches, the team welcomes a new leader.
Andy Farrell has officially named Caelan Doris as captain for the upcoming November internationals.
This decision marks a significant moment in Irish rugby, as Doris steps into this role as veteran Peter O’Mahony recovers from injury but is still named in the extended training squad.
Doris has demonstrated his leadership capabilities, having previously captained Ireland to victory in the Six Nations against Italy and during the second Test in South Africa.
His performance has positioned him as a long-term captaincy option, and Farrell’s choice reflects a strategic shift towards a new generation of leadership within the squad.
Doris said:
“It is an enormous honour to be named Ireland captain and I am excited about leading the squad into battle over the coming weeks. I am very fortunate to have had so much support from my family and friends and many others along the way from Mayo to Blackrock and on to Leinster and Ireland.”
Here at Balls, we decided to gather a list of the most capped Ireland rugby captains and also every player to have captained the Irish rugby squad since the professional era which began back in 1995.
Top 10 Most Capped Ireland Rugby Captains
Rank
Name
Years
Captaincies
Caps
Wins
Wins %
1
Brian O’Driscoll
2002–2012
83
133
52
62.65%
2
Rory Best
2009–2019
38
124
24
63.16%
3
Keith Wood
1996–2003
36
58
15
41.67%
4
Johnny Sexton
2019–2023
30
118
25
83.33%
5
Paul O’Connell
2004–2015
28
108
18
64.29%
6
Tom Kiernan
1963–1973
24
54
16
66.67%
7
Ciarán Fitzgerald
1982–1986
19
25
9
47.37%
8
Dónal Lenihan
1986–1990
17
52
8
47.06%
Fergus Slattery
1979–1981
17
61
5
29.41%
10
Michael Bradley
1992–1995
15
40
5
33.33%
William Crawford
1924–1927
15
30
11
73.33%
Karl Mullen
1947–1952
15
25
10
66.67%
Who was Ireland rugby’s first captain?
George Stack was the first ever man to captain Ireland in a rugby match. He captained Ireland in a game against England on February 15th, 1875.
Ireland Rugby Captains since 1995
Every Ireland Rugby captain since the professional era in order
Michael Bradley – 1992 to 1995
12 May 1985; Michael Bradley during an Ireland rugby squad portrait session at Lansdowne Road in Dublin ahead of their summer tour to Japan. Photo by Jim O’Kelly/Sportsfile
The professional rugby era in Ireland began back in 1995 and although our first player on this list held his first captaincy back in 1992, he was still captain in 1995.
Brendan Mullin – 1995
4 February 1995; Brendan Mullin, Ireland, in action against Scotland’s Ian Jardine. Five Nations Rugby Championship, Scotland v Ireland, Murrayfield, Edinburgh, Scotland. Picture credit: David Maher / SPORTSFILE
Mullins earned his first cap as captain against England on the 21st of January 1995.
Nick Popplewell – 1995
30 November 1997; Nick Popplewell of Ireland during the Autumn International match between Ireland and Canada at Lansdowne Road in Dublin, Ireland. Photo by Matt Browne/Sportsfile
Popplewell captained the Irish team for the first time against Japan, on 31/05/1995
Jim Staples – 1995
20 January 1996; Jim Staples, Ireland. Five Nations Rugby Championship, Ireland v Scotland, Lansdowne Road, Dublin. Picture credit: Brendan Moran / SPORTSFILE
Staples earned his for appearance as Irish captain back on the 18th of November 1995 versus Fiji.
Niall Hogan – 1996
28 January 1998; Niall Hogan, Ireland. Ireland Rugby Head Shots. Picture credit: Brendan Moran / SPORTSFILE
Hogan earned his Irish captaincy against Wales back on March 3rd 1996.
Keith Wood – 1996 – 2003
23 November 1996; Keith Wood, Ireland, is tackled by Michael Brial, left, and John Eales, Australia. International Friendly, Ireland v Australia, Lansdowne Road, Dublin. Picture credit: Brendan Moran / SPORTSFILE
Ireland’s third time all highest capped captain. Woods first captained an Irish side against Australia in an international friendly on November 23rd, 1996.
Paddy Johns – 1998
14 November 1998; Paddy Johns, Ireland. Rugby World Cup Qualifier, Ireland v Georgia, Lansdowne Road, Dublin. Picture credit: Matt Browne / SPORTSFILE
Johns appeared as Ireland captain for the first time against South Africa on 13/06/1998
Dion O’Cuinneagain – 1999
20 March 1999; Dion O’Cuinneagáin, Ireland, is tackled by Eric Peters, no.8, and Glenn Metcalf, Scotland. Ireland v Scotland. Five Nations Rugby Championship, Scotland v Ireland, Murrayfield, Edinburgh, Scotland. Picture credit: Matt Browne / SPORTSFILE
O’Cuinneagain had the honour of captaining Ireland when Ireland played Australia on June 12th, 1999.
Mick Galwey – 2001
20 October 2001; Ireland’s Mick Galwey charges through the England defence. Ireland v England, Six Nations Championship, Lansdowne Road, Dublin. Rugby. Picture credit; Brendan Moran / SPORTSFILE
Galwey captained Ireland against Romania on the 02/06/2001.
Anthony Foley – 2001
20 October 2001; Anthony Foley, Ireland, is tackled by Mike Catt, England. Ireland v England, Six Nations Championship, Lansdowne Road, Dublin. Rugby. Picture credit; Brendan Moran / SPORTSFILE
Foley was selected as Ireland’s captain versus Western Samoa, on November 11th, 2001.
David Humphreys – 2001
20 October 2001; David Humphreys, Ireland. Rugby. Picture credit; Brendan Moran / SPORTSFILE
Humphreys captained Ireland v Italy, 23/03/2002
Brian O’Driscoll – 2002 to 2012
9 November 2002; Brian O’Driscoll, Ireland, in action against Daniel Herbert, Australia. Ireland v Australia, International Rugby Friendly, Lansdowne Road. Picture credit; Matt Browne / SPORTSFILE
One of Ireland rugby’s best-known captains and the longest-serving captain Irish rugby has ever had. Brian O’Driscoll first captained Ireland against Australia on November 9th, 2002.
Reggie Corrigan – 2003
28 September 2002; Reggie Corrigan of Ireland during the Rugby World Cup 2003 Qualifier match between Ireland and Georgia at Lansdowne Road in Dublin. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
Captained the Ireland v Tonga clash , on 14/06/2003.
Recommended
Paul O’Connell – 2004 to 2015
14 February 2004; Paul O’Connell, Ireland. RBS 6 Nations Championship 2003-2004, France v Ireland, Stade de France, St. Denis, Paris, France. Picture credit; Matt Browne / SPORTSFILE *EDI*
O’Connell made 28 appearances as captain of the Ireland rugby team, He earned his first captain’s cap on February 14th, 2004 against France.
Simon Easterby – 2005
12 November 2005; Simon Easterby, Ireland. permanent tsb International Friendly 2005-2006, Ireland v New Zealand, Lansdowne Road, Dublin. Picture credit: Brendan Moran / SPORTSFILE
Easterby first captained Ireland against rugby giants New Zealand on 12/11/2005.
Simon Best – 2007
10 March 2007; Ireland’s Simon Best. Six Nations Rugby Championship, Scotland v Ireland, Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland. Picture credit: Brian Lawless / SPORTSFILE
Best received the captain’s armband for Ireland v Argentina back on May 26th, 2007.
Ronan O’Gara – 2008
15 March 2008; Ronan O’Gara, Ireland, kicks a penalty against England. RBS Six Nations Rugby Championship, England v Ireland, Twickenham, London. Picture credit; Brendan Moran / SPORTSFILE *** Local Caption ***
An Irish rugby legend, O’Gara first earned the honour of captaining an Irish rugby side back in 2008 on March 15th against England.
Rory Best – 2009 to 2019
19 October 2019; Rory Best of Ireland during the 2019 Rugby World Cup Quarter-Final match between New Zealand and Ireland at the Tokyo Stadium in Chofu, Japan. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Best has the second-highest amount of appearances as Ireland’s captain. Best made his first appearance as Ireland rugby captain on May 23rd against Canada in 2009. He then went on to represent Ireland as captain 37 more times.
Leo Cullen – 2011
6 August 2011; Leo Cullen, Ireland. Rugby World Cup Warm-up Game, Scotland v Ireland, Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland. Picture credit: Brendan Moran / SPORTSFILE
Cullen was captain of Ireland on August 6th, 2011, in a World Cup warmup.
Jamie Heaslip – 2012
10 November 2012; Ireland captain Jamie Heaslip after the game. Autumn International, Ireland v South Africa, Aviva Stadium, Lansdowne Road, Dublin. Picture credit: David Maher / SPORTSFILE
Heaslip was captain of the Irish rugby side which played South Africa on November 11th 2012.
Eoin Reddan – 2014
16 November 2014; Eoin Reddan, Ireland. Guinness Series, Ireland v Georgia, Aviva Stadium, Lansdowne Road, Dublin. Picture credit: Brendan Moran / SPORTSFILE
Reddan became a part of Ireland’s captain list on the 16th of November 2014 against Georgia.
Sean O’Brien – 2015
15 August 2015; Sean O’Brien, Ireland. Rugby World Cup Warm-Up Match. Ireland v Scotland. Aviva Stadium, Lansdowne Road, Dublin. Picture credit: Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE
Sean O’Brien was added to the list of Ireland rugby captains back in 2015 against Scotland (15/08/2015).
Rhys Ruddock – 2017
18 November 2017; Rhys Ruddock of Ireland during the Guinness Series International match between Ireland and Fiji at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile
Ruddock was captain of the Irish rugby team when they played the USA on the 10/06/2017.
Jonathan Sexton – 2019 to 2023
3 October 2019; Jonathan Sexton of Ireland kicks through during the 2019 Rugby World Cup Pool A match between Ireland and Russia at the Kobe Misaki Stadium in Kobe, Japan. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
An Irish captain who needs no introduction, Sexton first became captain of the Ireland rugby team back on October 3rd, 2019 when Ireland played Russia in the Rugby World Cup.
Sexton is the most capped Irish captain, captaining the side for a record 83 times. His final appearance as Ireland came in the 2023 World Cup against New Zealand.
James Ryan – 2020
21 November 2020; Ireland captain James Ryan looks at the scoreboard during the Autumn Nations Cup match between England and Ireland at Twickenham Stadium in London, England. Photo by Matt Impey/Sportsfile
One of the many men backed to take over the captaincy role left vacant by Sexton since retiring, Ryan already ahs experience captaining this Irish side.
He was first selected as captain back in 2020, when Ireland played England on November 21st.
Iain Henderson – 2021
14 February 2021; Iain Henderson of Ireland following the Guinness Six Nations Rugby Championship match between Ireland and France at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Another player to be added to the long list of Ireland captain’s, Henderson first captained Ireland on February 14th against France in the 2021 Six Nations.
Tadhg Furlong – 2022
Tadhg Furlong earned his first taste of Irish captaincy against Fiji for the Bank of Ireland Nations Series back on November 11th 2022.
Peter O’Mahony – 2013 – 2024
O’Mahony first captained Ireland in their game against the USA in 2013. 11 years later, he was named Ireland’s rugby captain by Andy Farrell for the 2024 Six Nations.
Caelan Doris – 2024
6 July 2024; Caelan Doris and Ciarán Frawley of Ireland leaves the pitch after the first test between South Africa and Ireland at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, South Africa. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
Andy Farrell has officially named Caelan Doris as captain for the 2024 November internationals.
SEE MORE:Doris Assumes Captaincy As Andy Farrell Names Autumn Internationals Ireland Rugby Squad
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