British and Irish Lions Rankings: Ireland’s Caelan Doris underscores captaincy claims for Australia tour | Rugby Union News

Who’s leading the charge for British and Irish Lions selection? Sky Sports ranks every player in contention after Round 2 of the 2025 Six Nations…

The second round of the Six Nations saw Caelan Doris spearhead Ireland’s bid for a third straight title – and enhance his claims for the British and Irish Lions captaincy.

The Leinster No 8’s chart-topping display at Murrayfield featured a try, 59 metres gained and 17 completed tackles as Ireland overpowered Scotland to make it two wins from two.

Tommy Freeman was England’s highest-ranking player in their dramatic victory over France.

The winger continued his impressive start to the Six Nations, applying the finishing touch to Fin Smith’s cross-field kick to score his second try of the tournament as Antoine Dupont and France were sent packing.

He may not have been Ireland’s top performer at Murrayfield, but James Lowe remains the overall Lions Rankings leader.

After two Six Nations games, no player has more line breaks or try assists than Lowe, who ranks third for carries and gain-line metres.

A try, six tackles, a jackal turnover and 12 ruck hits saw Jack Conan break into the top five.

Remarkably, there’s no room for Conan in the team of the week, with Doris occupying the No 8 berth, a sign of the embarrassment of riches that is Ireland’s strength in depth.

Fin Baxter shot into the top five after playing an integral role from the bench against France as England ended their seven-game losing run against Tier 1 opposition.

The prop packed a game’s worth of significant contributions into 28 minutes, as he scored a crucial try, made five tackles and five carries.

Lions rankings XV of the week

Backs: 15 Marcus Smith (England), 14 Tommy Freeman (England), 13 Ollie Lawrence (England), 12 Robbie Henshaw (Ireland), 11 James Lowe (Ireland), 10 Fin Smith (England), 9 Ben White (Scotland).

Forwards: 1 Fin Baxter (England), 2 Jamie George (England), 3 Finlay Bealham (Ireland), 4 Maro Itoje (England), 5 Tadhg Beirne (Ireland), 6 Tom Curry (England), 7 Ben Earl (England), 8 Caelan Doris (Ireland).

• All statistical claims relate to British and Irish Lions eligible players playing in the 2025 Six Nations for England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

British & Irish Lions tour of Australia on Sky Sports

Sky Sports will exclusively show the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour of Australia, with all three Tests against the Wallabies and six warm-up matches to be shown exclusively live.