Murray: Bigger the game the more I enjoy it

Nobody expected Conor Murray to be Ireland’s first choice scrum-half during the 2011 World Cup — or to overtake his Welsh and English rivals in the battle for the No 9 jersey on the & Lions tour last year.

But that’s more or less how it panned out for the 28-times capped 25-year-old from Patrickswell, now established as Munster and Ireland’s go-to guy and who will be a key man in the major games that lie ahead. It won’t be easy to live up to that high level of expectation.

“I don’t see it as pressure,” he insists. “When you are younger, you dream of playing in the big games, of being a big player or whatever they want to label you as. I enjoy that responsibility. Over the last couple of years, I found myself getting a bit better andbecoming more confident and trusting myself more with that added so-called pressure.

“You are in two great teams where all your team-mates are going to work for you.

“There is no one out on their own making decisions or getting hung out to dry.

“The bigger the game, there are probably more nerves but I enjoy that a bit more as well.

“There were years prior to the World Cup down in New Zealand when I was making strides. I suppose I got a few games and managed to do well and you learn from those games. Things happen in steps and you gain experience along the way. For me, it has always been week by week. Right now I am thinking about the fitness session I am doing later on today.”

Scrum-halves have generally been in the mould of Peter Stringer or Eoin Reddan, but rugby is so much about physicality these days that big men like 6ft 2ins and 15st Murray and Mike Phillips of Wales are far more suited to the warfare waged around fringes of scrum, ruck and maul. That is one of Murray’s greatest strengths but he also possesses the traditional scrum-half values so crucial to survive at the top.

So he is grateful to those who have helped him along the way: “It starts all the way back in school,” he says. “Things you are taught stick with you for a long time. There was my schools coach John Broderick.

“Greig Oliver had a big part to play in my development since I joined the academy and I continue to work with him. Tony McGahan gave me my first start with Munster.

“He could have easily dropped me when Strings [Peter Stringer] and Tomás [O’Leary] came back fit, but he kept me in there. That probably led to me going to the World Cup. And Deccie [Kidney] then for my first cap.”

No matter what you have achieved, there is no danger of anyone getting a swelled head in the Munster camp. Murray is no exception and is desperately keen to add to his game.

“You never play the perfect match,” he acknowledges.

“There are always things I am annoyed with no matter how well we play. The way we played overall against Toulouse in the quarter- final last season was great, but there were a few bits that annoyed me in my own game.

“I have talked to Joe [Schmidt], to Axel [Foley] and Greig Oliver about ways of improving. Those times, Six Nations, Lions tour, they were successful, but a week later no one is talking about them. You want to win the next big thing. That comes with Munster first and obviously it’s a huge year for Ireland.”