Ready to step it up as Lions loom on the horizon

RABODIRECT PRO 12:Munster scrumhalf Conor Murray is intent on backing his own abilities this season as he freely admits he has ambitions to make the Lions tour to Australia next summer

THE SENSE of shock within the close-knit world of Irish rugby last Saturday night as news of the tragic events concerning Nevin Spence and his family began filtering through was felt throughout the provinces.

Conor Murray was with some of his team-mates at home in Limerick as the awful news was conveyed to them, the room falling quiet as they tried to comprehend what they were hearing.

“An absolute gent,” is how Murray describes his contemporary. “When someone passes away people obviously say they were a lovely person but he was known as the nicest guy. One of the guys you’d chat to, no bother. He wouldn’t say a bad word about anyone.

“Nevin just had so much time for everyone yet was one of the hardest men on the field,” adds Murray. “An unbelievably physical player. A great person and a great player. Such a tragedy is hard to believe. It has affected everyone.”

Murray has no doubt Spence had the skills set as well as the physicality and running and try-scoring ability to one day play for Ireland. The two had been shortlisted, along with Rhys Ruddock, for the IRUPA Young Player of the Year award which Spence won two seasons ago.

Of the three, Murray’s climb has been the more meteoric. Indeed, it’s hard to credit that this time last year he was elbowing his way from fifth-choice Irish scrumhalf to first choice by the end of the World Cup, going on to play his first Heineken Cup and Six Nations, and starting all three Tests in New Zealand. As rookie Test seasons go, it could hardly have been more full on.

The steepest learning curve was the three-Test tour in All Blacks country.

“I really got a taste for the high standards in New Zealand, and the high standards the game of rugby can be played at, and you get an image or an idea of how far you want to go as well after you match yourself against the best.”

And although Aaron Smith made his debut in the first Test, it was pretty evident you could already place Murray’s direct counterpart in that category.

“You see things in his game that you can pick out, along with what parts of your own game are good and what parts you can get to become world class.

“I identified a few things over the summer and I had a few chats with coaches. If you want to be world class, you have to be ultra-consistent. No use doing things well once off and being inconsistent. You can be an international player but then you can be a very good international player, and at that level everyone has the skill, it’s just about consistency.”

In addition to his laser gun pass, Smith backs himself too. Ironically, both Murray and Smith scored tries in the second Test, by which stage Murray was struck by how small Smith is.

“He’s a tiny little fella, probably less than 80 kilos, but he has a great pass. Even when it was wet down there he was whipping balls out. You’ve got to trust your pass and he’s got great wrist power, which I think I have as well.”

Along with his wrist power, Murray believes his speed of pass through the air is as good as Smith’s and that the latter’s smaller size is not an advantage in moving the ball away.

“He’s also ultra-aggressive. I know he got some help from his forwards with his try in the second Test in Christchurch, but he still had the belief and stuck his head in.”

Murray didn’t need to see Smith’s opportunistic try last Saturday against South Africa to remind him of the need to back himself more.

“The main thing I learned from last year is how to deal with the bad days, and get over them quite quickly, because you will have bad days but you have to be mentally strong to put them aside, and know that you’re a good player and back yourself a bit more.

“Especially with Ireland I felt I didn’t back myself enough. I felt if I had a bad game the week before I just tried to minimise my mistakes, but that’s no way to play. Just go out and back your abilities and be confident, and try things out that you feel might work. Don’t let the way you’re playing shape you.

“You play in the shape and the game plan you’re trying to play, but don’t be a robot. If you see something is on then go for it, which I need to do more of this year, especially if I get few more chances in a green jersey.”

No less than the rest of the team, Murray took all this and more on board in an much improved second Test performance, only to be on the receiving end of that 60-0 mauling in the third Test.

“It was like being back in school when being hammered by a big Dublin team at the time,” says Murray, likening it to St Munchin’s coming up against Blackrock or Clongowes on a couple of occasions.

“The Dublin lads were getting to the gym and we weren’t. They (the All Blacks) were completely different animals that day. It was demoralising. They kept running in tries.”

Few were more in need of a holiday anyway. After a detour to Thailand with some of his Munster mates on the summer tour, he got some sun and chilled out. Thus, there are “no excuses” after a six week pre-season, and Murray was “itching for a game” by the time last weekend’s cracking contest with Ulster at Ravenhill came around.

“I keep hearing from people on the street how good a game it was, and I think the signs we showed are very promising. We’ll probably draw a bigger crowd this week with the brand of rugby we’re trying to play and what we’ve been doing.”

Murray’s own sense of enthusiasm has been heightened by the arrival of Rob Penney and Simon Mannix and what he calls a new style of play.

“It is a bit more ball in hand, and having everyone across the field comfortable with having the ball; not panicking and being relaxed on the ball and seeing space. So it’s brought a lot more skill to it, getting tight forwards a lot more comfortable out in those wide areas and not being afraid of it, which has brought new dimensions to other people’s games.”

Munster’s game is, he says, “definitely bubbling”.

Kept on a bench leash again this evening against the Dragons, Murray says he understands it’s going to be a long season. This could, of course, be especially long for those who make the Lions tour to Australia next summer.

Admittedly, Tomás O’Leary was selected four years ago and would have assuredly been in the Test 22 at least before being cruelly denied his chance to tour, but Ireland haven’t had a Lions scrumhalf since John Robbie and Colin Patterson in 1980.

“I’ve never been warned off talking about it but I don’t think there’s any harm in saying I’d love to be on a Lions tour,” admits Murray. “In know you’ve got to take it one game at time but I think that if I have a good year with Munster and I keep my place with Ireland and have a good year with Ireland, I’d like to think I’d be there or thereabouts. And hopefully I’ll keep improving after more games with Munster and Ireland, pending selection.”

There’s been a serious investment in Conor Murray over the past 12 months and beyond, and he’s intent on reaping a dividend.