Schmidt can find positives from Conor Murray absence

So, that’s that then. No Conor Murray next month. Possibly Ireland’s most important player and he’s unavailable for the visit of the All Blacks, writes Brendan O’Brien.

What you think about that depends on whether you’re the glass half-empty type or the kind who can spill the dinner on the floor and think that, if nothing else, it saves you from rustling anything up for the dog.

Murray’s worth to Ireland, especially against the back-to-back world champions, isn’t easy to exaggerate.