Murray kicks on from autumn test

Conor Murray will take his bow at Twickenham today, ready to help Ireland in their Triple Crown bid against England and taking nothing for granted about the situation in which he finds himself.

Still only 24 and with a career trajectory that already features a World Cup and British & Irish Lions Test series victory, the Munster scrum-half is in no danger of having his success go to his head and he is prepared to accept that Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt may have done him a huge favour in that regard when he delivered the first major setback of his rugby career last November.

Home from the Lions tour to Australia with reputation considerably enhanced, and nicely established as first-choice No 9 for province and country, Murray received the mother of all bubble-bursters from Schmidt when he was dropped for the middle of that month’s Guinness Series Tests, against the Wallabies. The incoming national head coach may have just been rotating his squad as he installed his former Leinster charge Eoin Reddan in the Test 15 butdemotion to the bench had a profound effect on Murray that he now sees as a positive.

“Yeah, definitely,” he said ahead of his 25th Ireland cap. “It was a great summer, coming back and I think the November series, it’s not a competition and maybe Joe wanted to try a few combinations. I think he was happy with the way it went against Samoa and I wanted [to play against] New Zealand so badly and just put my head down [after the Australia game] and thankfully I got the nod for that. But it reminded you that this is international rugby and there’s always someone on your heels, keen to take your spot and do as well as they possibly can.

“That’s what I’m trying to do now. I’m trying to train as well as I can, look after myself as well as I can and make sure I know my plays inside and out. It was a little reminder that it’s not a nice place to be when you’re sitting on the bench and I’m playing as well as I can so I don’t have to be there any more.”

The next chance comes today at Twickenham where Murray is keen to build on his own strong start to the 2014 championship which has seen him make pivotal contributions to the wins over Scotland and Wales which have brought Ireland to within one victory of a first Triple Crown since the Grand Slam season of 2009.

If Murray’s demeanour is anything to go by, the Irish camp is buzzing going into its first away game under Schmidt and he is hoping he will be able bring even more to the table as the men in green try and upset the powerful English on their home turf.

“I’ve been quite pleased with the first two games. Looking to this week, maybe the game might break up a bit more and we’ll be able to attack a bit more. There was a lot of kicking in the first two games, particularly the Welsh game, but I’ve been pleased with the way that’s gone, too.

“Hopefully as the tournament progresses and I keep all the basics fine, it might break up and I’ll be able to show other sides to my game as well. That’s something I’m excited about and relishing.”

With good reason, because Murray is already showing signs of an increasingly important role alongside Johnny Sexton in the Ireland cockpit, with Schmidt praising the scrum-half for his growing influence as a decision maker.

“It’s probably down to the way we’re playing and also down to experience,” Murray said. “When you’re younger you’re probably not thinking much about the plays you do or where you put the pass but now you’re more educated and you know what you’re doing will have an effect on the team around you.

“It’s a great position to be in. It obviously means the coach is backing you and there’s confidence within you to make decisions. I think everyone from 1 to 15, subs and everyone, we all back each other in everything we do, even if it’s not the right decision.

“If you back yourself 100% and battle hard and your team-mates are following you in and backing you, it can turn into the right call and it could turn into a good play for you. So I think we’re in a good place in terms of taking responsibility and sharing responsibility and being competent and confident.”

This may still be an experienced Ireland side, with Brian O’Driscoll, Gordon D’Arcy and Paul O’Connell contributing heavily to today’s 724-cap tally in the starting 15 but just as Murray and his generation are stepping up as leaders in the Munster side, so too is there an increasing leadership role within the Ireland camp.

“That is definitely happening in Munster and is continuing with players getting stronger in believing in themselves and the responsibility that goes with that. The same thing’s happening with Ireland as well. It’s part of being in a team. You can’t just come into a team and survive. You have to input into it around what’s going on and really want it to work.

“I think that shows how hungry we are as players in Munster and Ireland. We want to win so you don’t just turn up to training and want everything to be laid out for you. You want to input and have a say in what goes on.

“But Paulie’s there, Johnny’s there, Drico’s around, D’Arce and Rob [Kearney], still a lot of fellas who have been around a lot longer than any of us, but at the same time we’re part of this team and if we’ve got something to say we should say it. And I think there’s a healthy balance in our squad at the moment, definitely.”

Ireland will need all of that experience to draw on today as they seek to defeat England for the first time since the 2011 Six Nations.

Asked to provide one word that epitomises what playing England will be like this afternoon, Murray pauses, but not for long.

“Tight,” he replies. “It’s going to be tight. Anytime I’ve played them it’s been brought down to the wire and it’s going to require a huge effort from us.

“I didn’t see that [26-3] scoreline coming against Wales, I thought it was going to be a lot tighter. I don’t see anything like that this week, it’s going to be really, really tight. It will require an 80-minute concentration effort from us.

“There are going to be ups and downs in the game and we have to make sure we stay positive and keep fighting and be there until the very end because they’re going to be there all day long.”