OUR own Caelan Doris will lead out Leinster for today's Champions Cup semi-final against Northampton in Croke Park. The Lacken man will skipper the eastern province after co-captains Gary Ringrose and James Ryan were ruled out through injury.
Caelan is no stranger to captaincy having previously led Leinster in the Christmas meeting with Ulster before going on to lead Ireland against Italy in the Six Nations match in February.

The man who began his rugby journey in Heffernan Park and is a regular visitor to the clubhouse, is no stranger to Croke Park. The passionate Mayo GAA supporter is looking forward to playing on the hallowed surface in front of a packed house.

"I’ve been in the stands plenty of times supporting Mayo, for some good days as well as plenty of bad ones. It’s class. Like Leo (Cullen) said, it is an iconic stadium for Irish culture. We feel very fortunate as a group to have a crack there."

Back in Mayo, our clubhouse will be packed to the rafters as the members, players, family and friends gather to roar on the man who means so much to all of us.

Our President, Adrian Bourke, has invited the entire community to come along and celebrate a special day for Ballina RFC as we watch one of our own lead Leinster in Croke Park.

"We'll be cheering Caelan to the echo from our clubhouse. He's an inspiring young man and we're wishing him the very best of luck on such an exciting day. It will be a very special occasion in the club and one we're going to enjoy," Adrian added.

The match against Northampton kicks off in Croke Park at 5.30pm and will be carried live on RTE Two television and the RTE Player.