Simon Zebo has never been a player to mask his emotions.
The Munster full-back has been described as a free-spirit by teammates and he certainly lived up to that tag last weekend with his post-try celebration in the 33-10 win over Leicester.
Munster fly-half Ian Keatley spotted a gap in behind the Tigers defence and placed a perfectly weighted chip kick for Zebo to chase and score.
The French-bound utility immediately transitioned into a pre-planned dance routine and Murray thinks the opportunity to dance adds to his desire to score.
“Zeebs is a great communicator,” said Murray.
“There was one kick where I couldn’t see over the ruck, I was looking the other way and he just told me that the left corner was free and I just kicked it blindly.
“It’s about trusting people around you and I think as a 9 and 10 your kicking game has to be good, but it’s the guys chasing it that really have to be on the money. The guys feeding you that information.
“I can’t see everything, so you need guys in your ear constantly, so I’m sure Zeebs is hungry to score and do his little dance, he probably saw that spacing and was just in Keats’ [Ian Keatley’s] ear.
“Keats didn’t have time to think, he just caught the ball and put in a really good kick and Zeebs got the highlight reel.”
Murray has built up a very solid understanding with Zebo over the last seven seasons, and apart from one very punlic Lions mishap, the two place a great deal of trust in each other.
The highlight of their on-field partnership is arguably a try Zebo scored last season, a slicing run through the Tigers defence after a deft inside pass from Murray at the base of the ruck.
The Munster scrum-half has enjoyed a lot of success around the fringes in the last year, scoring twice against the All Blacks after catching defenders off balance.
Murray claims that a lot of his success around the ruck is instinctive, but that he places a great deal of trust in those around him to identify gaps in opposing defences.
“It’s reactionary,” added Murray.
“You go on your instincts. You look for movement. First and foremost, the breakdown will win or lose you the game more often than not.
“If that’s going well, and you get quick ball, and defenders are struggling to get in position on time, if you get the ball in your hands you can probably influence them or move them around and play off that.
“Ben Youngs does it really well. He likes to play around the ruck an awful lot and you’re just looking for people not paying attention, or maybe spaced a little bit too wide, or if you want to drag them out like the try last year where you get Zeebs on the inside, that’s my instincts.
“But then it’s Zeebs, or [Andrew] Conway or [Keith] Earlsy, or whoever I’m used to working with, usually wingers looking for work off their wing, they’re your eyes really.
“You just have to focus on a defender and you know they’e going to be there.
“There’s not one thing I’m looking for but movement or people not set early enough is what I react to.”
Gaps generally start to appear in rugby the further the game develops, but for Murray, it’s about exploiting the space in front of him and reacting to the players around him, forwards included, given the Munster pack’s propensity to drive up the middle.
“If it was minute one, and you’re at a ruck deep inside your own 22, and there was no one there, you have to take that space.
“You see a lot of forwards picking through the ruck now and I have to be ready to be in a support line for them.
“CJ [Stander] did it last year against Leicester, picked through the middle and nearly got me away on the edge, so there’s all sorts of things happening around there.
“You’ve just got to be instinctive really and have a few little plays you can go to around there.
“Some teams are really good at that, really pack down and you have to play around them, and then some teams you can find a little bit of space and it’s just about finding that balance between your 9 and 10.”
Conor Murray was speaking on behalf of Pinergy. Pinergy has been a partner of Munster rugby since 2014 and to date they have focused on sponsoring the laptops and analytical equipment used by the team’s coaches – powering the insights behind the game. This mirrors the brand’s approach to their customers, whereby they give them the ability to get greater insight into their energy consumption, enabling them to make changes and understand their impacts, ‘coaching’ their customers into making better choices with their energy consumption.
See link to YouTube video launching the #WeAre16 campaign: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVLQr1v3tmM
