Caelan Doris: 'Going after someone' for a mistake not my style

New Ireland captain Caelan Doris says he hasn't adopted Johnny Sexton’s "assertiveness" as he tries to develop his own style of leadership.

While Peter O’Mahony led Andy Farrell’s side to the Six Nations championship last spring, 26-year-old Doris was appointed as captain for the Autumn Nations Series.

The Mayo man also took over as Leinster skipper after last season’s co-captaincy between James Ryan and Garry Ringrose didn’t work out.

Sexton was Ireland captain from 2020 until his retirement following last year’s World Cup, and Leinster captain for five years from 2018.

However, even before it was made official, Sexton was a de facto captain on and off the field, setting high standards and readily letting team-mates and even coaches know when he felt something fell below his expectations.

But Doris, whose side face Argentina in the Autumn Nations Series this evening at Aviva Stadium (8.10pm), says he won’t follow Sexton’s example in one particular regard.

Asked if he had been given one particular piece of advice about captaincy, he replied: "As cliched, and as much as I’ve said it before, the 'be yourself’ bit.

"Probably, initially, it didn’t strike home with me as much because what I saw wasn’t felt what was natural for me.

"I wanted to do what [previous captains] were doing, but the more time I spend in the captaincy role I’m just finding my own way a little bit more."

Asked for an example, he said: "Say Johnny’s assertiveness in training or if a mistake has been made or whatever, going after someone in the manner that he would, which was very much him, and something he had always done but is not for me.

"So, I try and find different ways to do it."

When Sexton retired he suggested he would steer clear of coaching players he had