Doris could be sidelined for six months as Leinster prepare to move on from 'fall-out' after Northampton loss
Earmarked for a number of months as a potential captain of the side, Mayo native Doris ultimately wasn't included in Andy Farrell's official Lions selection on Thursday after hurting his shoulder in Leinster's surprise European Champions Cup semi-final exit to Northampton Saints at the Aviva Stadium last Saturday.
Earlier in the week, the province's senior coach Jacques Nienaber suggested Doris (who will now be absent for Leinster's United Rugby Championship run-in) could be facing an absence of between four and six months if he had suffered structural damage to his shoulder. While stating it can be difficult to predict a precise recovery period, Cullen revealed yesterday he could potentially be sidelined for this length of time.
'He is going for surgery as we speak and depending on how that is, it's a four to six months' time frame from what I understand. It's dangerous throwing out timelines as we know, but that's what reports are. Hopefully it's not as bad as that, but that is what is being talked about certainly in terms of timelines,' Cullen remarked ahead of this evening's URC clash with Zebre at the Aviva Stadium.
'It's been a tough week with the fall-out after the game. You could see Caelan when he did it at the time, he's down the sideline and he's trying to get an offload away. Even after that, he scores a try, rips the ball out of a guy's arms and puts in a 50-22.
'He's gutted about the team. That was hurting him more at the start of the week. He's been outstanding here. We wish him a speedy recovery and hopefully he will get another chance to go on a trip like that [the Lions] again. Unfortunately it's not going to be for him this time.'
While his side's disappointing performance is a significant part of the 'fall-out' from the Northampton game, a lot has been made of the decision by referee Pierre Brousset and his match officials not to award a penalty try to Leinster in the dying moments of the contest.
Alex Coles was yellow carded in the 79th minute for his illegal intervention on Josh van der Flier as the openside flanker found himself within inches of the whitewash, but a penalty and a numerical advantage were the only things Leinster garnered from this incident.
Cullen explained he has been in official communication with the proper authorities in relation to the decision not to award an automatic seven points to his side in a game they lost by just three (37-34). Although he sensed there wasn't a complete agreement on the matter, the Leinster supremo believes the general view is that it should have been a late penalty try to the eastern province.
'We've had conversations. It's an incredibly tight decision. They'll have calibration meetings with different referee selectors. I don't think it's quite unanimous is the sense I get, but the majority would say it should be a penalty try,' Cullen added.
'Because you're talking about the probability of Josh scoring and the probability is, if the ball is not being ripped out of his hands, he's rolling towards the line and he's just falling and scoring. The probability is, it is a try. That is the feedback.
'This doesn't help, unfortunately, the result and that's the process you go through. That's sport, isn't it? Sport, it can be incredibly cruel.'
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