Look, we understand if you’re worried. We’re worried too.
Conor Murray is just too bloody good right now. That makes some folks nervous.
In New Zealand, the Kiwis worried for years what would ever happen if they lost Dan Carter.
They wrung their hands over it for so long that, when Carter pulled up during the 2011 World Cup, there was a collective ‘I told you so’ that drowned out the weary sighs. Still, between Piri Weepu, Aaron Cruden and Stephen Donald, they won the damn thing.
It’s not often pretty and it doesn’t often go to the script but New Zealand have so many quality operators that they muck in and get it done. That is what Joe Schmidt is aiming for too. He is trying to get his team winning as many games as possible so that it starts coming naturally to them.
That is the end goal and that is why we will see the likes of Conor Murray, Rory Best and Johnny Sexton playing as many Goddamn minutes as their increasingly walloped bodies can muster.
Ireland’s win over Wales, at the weekend, was another prime example of Sexton and Murray being twisted for every last squeeze or juice and pulp. Sexton was banged up from 00:00 on the clock while Murray played on despite wrenching his leg badly in a heap of breakdown-contesting bodies. Schmidt, in return, said he’d give them Tuesday off from training.
The current situation – with Murray proving his worth with a late penalty in Sexton’s stead – led to a good question on The Hard Yards.
Is there any value in Ireland having a bench 9 given Murray has to basically not have a pulse to be taken off? #AskTHY
— Some Gifs and Rugby and stuff (@GifsRugbyNStuff) February 25, 2018
It led to a lively debate [from 1:03:00 below] that involved some top comments from former Munster man James Downey and Wasps centre Brendan Macken.
Macken said:
“We’re so lucky to have one of the best scrum-halves in the world, if not the best. We’e blessed that we have him and if we do have to play him for 80 minutes each time, well, that’s that.”
Downey believes Kieran Marmion, Murray’s reserve, should get at least 15 to 20 minutes per game as Ireland “are in trouble” if the Limerick native were ever to get injured.
However, it is worth pointing out that Marmion started and played a gem of a game in the 2017 Six Nations win over England. Luke McGrath came off the bench that day and closed the game out with composure and purpose. Just because they are not getting much game time does not mean they are not quality players.
Murray is a class above, though, and that is why he is getting the time. The results are flowing the right way – 10 wins in a row.
For now, instead of fretting over that disaster may come or not, let’s just build up the wins and add to the aura. We may not have invincible players but we can be a team that wins a shed-load of games.
And, as Colin Mehigan points out, there’s always the Australia Tour….
Given how indispensable Murray and Sexton are to Ireland, is it not imperative to use the Australia tour to start Carbery and one of the scrum halves in all three tests? #askTHY
— Colin Mehigan (@colinmehigan) February 25, 2018
Bide yer time lads.
