Quiet man Murray keen to push for starting slot

CONOR MURRAY’S reaction to his inclusion in Ireland’s Rugby World Cup squad surprised many, not least his housemates.

On Sunday, the Patrickswell youngster received the call from coach Declan Kidney to start packing his bags for a trip to New Zealand.

But it seems that Murray’s subsequent demeanour was a cause of concern for Declan Cusack, Mike Sherry, Paddy Butler and David Kilcoyne.

“They were trying to shake me to tell me get excited,” he revealed.

“I still probably haven’t realised it.

“I’m sure in the next few days it’ll come together and I’ll understand how big it is.” A quiet character away from rugby, the 22-year-old insists he won’t be found wanting on the pitch when it comes to barking orders to players of huge experience in the international fold.

He continued: “That’s probably the main thing I have worked on these last few years, communication.

“Maybe I’d be quiet off the pitch but I’ve been told I’ve improved in the area of communication on it.”

So does barking at the likes of Paul O’Connell and David Wallace come naturally to him? Perhaps not, he suggested, “but it has happened a few times, it’s part of my job.”

The next part of his job is to push for a starting place in the Irish side in New Zealand.

“Obviously,” he said, “you want to play as much as you can. I’m into the set up now, I’ve looked at how hard it was to get in there so I would look at every opportunity I can get. I’ll keep training and working as hard as I have done all summer. If the chance comes, hopefully I’ll be able to take it.”

Yesterday Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll welcomed the man into the fold and is looking forward to working with the youngster – on and off the pitch.

“Yeah, it’s extremely exciting, I was in a situation where I think I had three caps to my name before that World Cup and it was just an opportunity of having a huge challenge. Once you get into the set-up, you get a taste for it and you want to be as involved as much as possible. Conor got his cap over in France and I’m sure that taste for Test match rugby will still be fresh in his mind and he will want a bit more of that.”

He added: “He’s a quiet guy, probably more comfortable with guys that he knows and he might, over the next few weeks, need to come out of his shell a little bit. But a (number) nine needs to dominate things and I don’t think he’s afraid to do that on the pitch, he’ll boss people around and I’m looking forward to being out training and build a bit more of a bond with him. Looking at the three scrum-halves, we have got three very talented guys there and I would imagine that all three of them feel they have potential game time in them. That bodes well from a point of view of getting the best out of one another.”

For now, Murray and his family will bask in the glory of his selection. Nobody, though, will be more proud than his grandfather Ned Roche, a former Garryowen captain and Munster player, with whom Murray invariably and excitedly watched Ireland’s televised World Cup games as a youngster.

Little did they know then the excitement that was ahead.