Farrell is "more than fully confident" in Caelan Doris' ability as captain.
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A hot winters day out in Durban as the dust settles on Irelands team announcement, which included the revelation that Peter OâMahony has been dropped to the bench as 26-year-old Caelan Doris takes over as Ireland skipper.
Garry Ringrose and James Ryan are Leinsterâs co-captains, but Farrell is backing Doris as OâMahonyâs successor in the green jersey. This weekend will be Dorisâ second time leading Ireland out as captain, having done it in the Six Nations against Italy a few months ago
New Yearâs Day was the first time Doris ever captained a senior professional team and he admitted after Leinsterâs home defeat to Ulster that he had erred in his dealings with the referee.
A couple of weeks later, Doris stated his firm belief that he wasnât in the running to succeed Johnny Sexton as Ireland skipper and it was OâMahony who was handed the job.
The Munster man retained the captaincy for this tour of South Africa but it was Doris who assumed the leadership when OâMahony went off with 30 minutes of the first Test remaining. And now with the 34-year-old dropping to the bench, Doris is Farrellâs man.
Dorisâ tricky dealings with Luke Pearce last weekend mean he has a bit to ponder on this evening ahead of Saturdayâs second Test in Durban. Farrell believes Doris is ready.
âIâm more than fully confident,â said Farrell. âI thought he was excellent at the weekend.
âI think first and foremost, he leads from the front. Heâs in outstanding form. His performance last week, never mind the leadership or captaincy bit, he was outstanding. Be the best version of yourself â thatâs the best form of leadership.
âHeâs a calming influence, heâs bright. The questions that heâs going to the referees with are the right ones. His manner is very good as well.
âIâm sure as Caelan goes through his leadership roles, hopefully there will be many more as far as captaincy is concerned, albeit he is still in that infancy as far as trying to get some more experience, hence why heâs got this opportunity.
âHeâll continue to have respect for himself, as a captain, as a leader, but also in the eyes of the referees as well.
Farrell has also been encouraged by OâMahonyâs reaction to his decision to drop him from the starting XV as James Ryan comes into the second row and Tadhg Beirne shifts to blindside flanker.
The Ireland boss said OâMahonyâs selfless streak meant it wasnât a difficult conversation.
âIt was very easy because of how he is as a person,â said Farrell. âYou donât expect those conversations to be easy and donât get me wrong, heâs not accepting and heâs not happy obviously but he does the right thing for the team.
âThatâs at the forefront of his mind constantly and thatâs proper leadership. He understands that we want to have a look in this direction to see how it goes. Heâs the captain of this tour and it shows the mark of the man how you lead after a bit of disappointment, how you carry on being yourself or not.
âHeâs on the bench for a reason. He makes people feel good, itâs right when heâs there with his presence and leading. That has been so evident over the last couple of days so he couldnât have done a better job in that regard.â
Farrell confirmed that Bundee Aki was ruled out of the selection mix due to a shoulder injury he suffered in the first Test, the Ireland boss praising Aki as âbrave enough to go through the last 20 minutes of the game.â
Farrell also stated that Robbie Henshaw had been cleared of concussion despite being replaced at half time of the first Test after a heavy collision when his head met Siya Kolisiâs shoulder.
âHe is concussion not confirmed,â said Farrell.
âHe went through protocols 2 and 3 with flying colours, no concussion confirmed, so he has not missed any training this week.â
Asked why Henshaw had been replaced at half time, Farrell indicated that Henshaw had failed the off-field HIA1 after an alert in his instrumented mouthgaurd, before the subsequent HIA examinations meant he was cleared of concussion.
âItâs the pings, the pings in the gumshield,â said Farrell.
âTherefore the ruling at this moment in time, pings on the gumshield if itâs before half time, they have to get a HIA at half time. As we know, itâs a tough old process to go through.â