Murray: We showed we could play and we’ll improve

Like many of his Irish comrades, Conor Murray was a different player in Christchurch from the opening night disaster in Auckland.

The 23-year-old played with a maturity beyond his years in the sub-zero surroundings of the AMI Stadium and set the tone for a superb Irish performance with his sniping 10th minute touchdown.

Despite his excellent showing, Murray was clearly despondent after the 22-19 loss at the death.

“Even at the end there we had a chance to win it,” said Murray.

“Obviously that scrum decision went against us….obviously there’s a bit of talk about it. I actually didn’t see it, but there’s a few people upset about that.”

Murray praised the Ireland pack for a hungrier and more aggressive performance after the largely toothless display in Auckland.

“I think we fronted up big time at the breakdown,” he said.

“The ball was coming back a lot quicker, at times they still managed to slow it down, and we got a few more decisions off that then we did last week.”

The third and final test in Hamilton may prove a test too far for Declan Kidney’s weary troops, but Murray was in fighting form ahead of the penultimate meeting with the world champions.

“We showed that we can play,” said Murray. “We can get scores when we get our game moving and our breakdown work is good, we can only improve into next week, and we’ve another shot, thank God.”

Murray’s halfback partner Jonathan Sexton was massively disappointed with the result. The Leinster fly-half had a flawless night with the boot, nailing five kicks in-a-row to keep Ireland in the hunt only to see his late long-range effort to fall short in the dying moments.

Sexton was a menace for the All Blacks defence throughout a pulsating match, particularly when he moved to inside centre for the injured Gordon D’Arcy in the second half.

“I thought we had it,” said Sexton.

“Even at the end I thought we were going to get another chance, it’s just … we put everything into it and we probably made a couple of mistakes at key times.

“To let in a soft try (at the beginning of the second half) is just obviously disappointing, then we gave the ball back to them a bit too easily at times.”

In a game full of drama, Nigel Owens’ late decision to penalise an Irish scrum clearly in the ascendency is sure to dominate debate this week.

“In fairness to the boys, they scrummaged really well,” said Sexton.

“They spoke about it all week, Greg Feek did a great job with the forwards, they were really up for the game and they dominated the scrum area but it’s hard for me to comment [on Owens’ late decision]. But they are the decisions, sometimes they go with you, sometimes they go against you. We seem to get a bad rub of the green a lot of the time, so it’s frustrating” After conceding five tries in Eden Park, Sexton and his teammates fronted up to the challenge last Saturday with the likes of Julian Savea, Israel Dagg and Conrad Smith, who all ran riot in Auckland, largely anonymous.

“We spoke about it during the week about putting pride back in the jersey and I think we did that,” said Sexton on the Irish defensive effort.

“Everyone stood up in defence and I think we can be even better, so we will have a look at some of the areas where they did stretch us and try and shore them up for next week.”