Conor Murray was just as nervous, exhilarated and relieved as the rest of us when Ireland beat Wales 1-0 to secure a World Cup 2018 playoff spot, last month.
The Ireland scrum-half was watching the football qualifier from home with Munster teammate Andrew Conway for company and shared some scenes with his Instagram followers. He will be following Ireland’s playoff encounter with Denmark, on Saturday night, but he can’t afford to focus on it too much right now.
Murray will face off against South Africa at the Aviva Stadium and Ireland will be eager to get a victory after leaving a Test Series behind in Port Elizabeth last summer [2016]. Ahead of the game, Murray spoke really well on the arrival of Auckland-born Bundee Aki into the Ireland squad and those comments have been warmly welcomed by many rugby supporters on these shores.
Conor Murray's comments on Bundee Aki should officially end this bullshit https://t.co/1Yq1jj6TcN
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) November 7, 2017
Murray has played South Africa five times in his rugby career and the winning balance currently lies with the Boks – three to two. He hopes to even that tally up this weekend.
Once the match is in the books, and both media or corporate duties are done [he’ll likely be selected for one or the other], Murray’s focus will switch to events in Copenhagen. He tells us:
“We’ll have a lot on our minds before that [match] but, personally, I’ve a keen interest in football and I’ll definitely be seeking out a place to watch it, for sure.
“Even if it’s on the phone, during the post-match dinner, I’ll have it down by my side. Yeah, I’ll definitely keep up to date with that. It’s massive for the country and I wish them all the best.”
One hopes that there is some sort of TV screen rolled into the post-match banquet otherwise the Irish players may do what so many of us have done at weddings – take 20 to 30-minute trips to the toilets and past the nearest football-showing TV available.
