The respect Shane Williams has for Sexton and Murray shows how lucky we are to have them

You can tell he’s a fan.

With 131 Ireland caps between them, Johnny Sexton and Conor Murray are pretty much national treasures at this stage.

And just in case there was any lingering doubt over Sexton’s place in the pantheon of Irish sporting legends, his miraculous drop goal against France in Paris effectively sealed the deal.

Conor Murray doesn’t necessarily need such nerveless, last-minute heroics to cement his status. He’s just a magnificent man and a pretty handy scrum-half too.

Yet, despite all the blood, sweat and tears they’ve given for the green shirt over the years, it’s easy to take them for granted, which is why it’s eye-opening when we get an outsider’s perspective.

Shane Williams dropped into the studio for the latest edition of The Hard Yards this week and proved to be a wonderfully eloquent guest.

During a wide-ranging interview, Williams discussed Wales’ chances against Ireland at the Aviva on Saturday, and the 2008 World Rugby Player of the Year was under no illusions as to the strength of Joe Schmidt’s side, highlighting the ‘string-pulling’ capabilities of Sexton and Murray.

“I think Ireland will be favourites,” Williams said. “They have the home advantage, they’re two from two and they had to work really hard to come away with a win in the first game, but Ireland have started to fire now. They were very clinical against Italy, with Sexton and Murray pulling the strings and the likes of Keith Earls playing really well. They’re starting to look like a real unit.”

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Williams is bang-on with his assessment of Ireland. The win over France was far from pretty but, in the Italy game, you felt as though one or two things were beginning to click. With a surge of momentum, it’s given this Ireland side a real boost going into Saturday’s clash with Warren Gatland’s men.

With the experience and class of players like Sexton and Murray, Ireland will always stand a chance, regardless of who they’re up against.

Of course, Wales will doubtless present a robust examination of Ireland’s championship credentials and Williams believes they have a good chance of coming away from Dublin with the win.

“We put France to the sword and had to work really hard against England, so I think there’s a confidence in Wales. A lot of new players in the squad that perhaps wouldn’t have gotten the opportunity if the other guys weren’t injured, but I think it’s worked. It looks like we have strength in depth and definitely have confidence.

“We have a few players coming into form and there’s a few Scarlets lads in that team now, who can play open, expansive rugby, so they truly believe they can come to Dublin and win and it puts more pressure on the Irish really. 

You can listen to Williams’ full interview on The Hard Yards below, starting from 16 minutes in.

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