Conor Murray backs Ireland to go the distance with All Blacks

Conor Murray needs no reminding of those final, desperate minutes three years ago when Ireland’s hopes of a first victory over the All Blacks were dashed.

Yet time has brought the Ireland scrum-half perspective and motivation from that last-minute defeat in Dublin and Joe Schmidt’s players go into this Saturday’s reunion fixture at Soldier Field with the belief they can rise to the same heights that put them into a 22-7 half-time lead in 2013 and this time finish the job.

Against a team rightly lauded for its ability to stay mentally strong and keep executing at the tail end of games when opposing teams are fading, Murray knows Ireland cannot afford a repeat of that 2013 collapse to a 24-22 loss and he is convinced his team are now better placed to last the distance by staying on the front foot.

“You’ve got to keep playing against a team like this; you’ve got to keep attacking them,” Murray said.

“Like you saw maybe in that 2013 game, maybe in Ellis Park last summer (in the second Test against South Africa) we probably took a step back and tried to close it out a bit.

“You’ve got to keep running, keep attacking and that’s the belief that I’d take from 2013. When we came out and played our game, I know our game is good enough to put scores up against the All Blacks — we have that. It’s keeping the foot on the pedal, not getting scared and closing it out. It’s about attacking and that comes from the last few years.

“The All Blacks, South Africa and a few other games we had good leads and we failed to kick on.

“Maybe we thought we’d enough work done and nearly wanted the game to end, but you’ve got to keep going and keep going.”

The challenge in that regard is more than just physical fitness, Murray believes Ireland are now in possession of stronger minds to go the distance against the world champions.

“Mentally, you’ve got to keep going. You can’t hope for the game to go quickly, for the clock to run out or for them to make mistakes you’ve just mentally got to keep going. That’s a hard thing to do, because after 60 minutes you’re fatigued physically and mentally.

“We’ve got to keep reassuring ourselves that we can keep attacking, playing our game-plan and build momentum and scores and that’s it.

“Mentally, it’s a step we’ve taken in the last few years. From where we started when Joe came in, in 2013, to where we are now, mentally we’re a hell of a lot stronger. We’ve just got to believe in ourselves.

“It does take an 80-minute performance and that’s part of the exciting challenge of this week.

You’re up against the best team in the world who are playing very, very well.

“You want to pit yourself against the best, the last couple of times I’ve played them I’ve learnt a lot about myself as a player so hopefully we’re a bit more well-equipped, I know we are.”

The positive impact for Ireland of stronger minds and bodies will, in theory, ensure Schmidt’s players are in a better position to keep asking questions of the All Blacks deep into the game. That is something no team has done to Steve Hansen’s side in a long while. Wales pushed them for an hour or so in the first Test of their summer series in Auckland, even leading 18-15 at half-time in Eden Park before losing 39-21 while Argentina went ahead against the All Blacks in Hamilton during the Rugby Championship and were trailing by just five points at half-time. The Pumas lost the second half 33-3 in a 57-22 drubbing.

It is that resilience which means New Zealand have lost only three times and drawn twice in the 63 Tests since Hansen took charge in 2012.

Murray’s intention is that Ireland take them to an unfamiliar place where the All Blacks begin to question themselves.

“Definitely, that probably was a factor in 2013 - and I don’t want this to be a write-up to be constantly referring to it but you’ve got to, from the off, attack them and not go into the game in the first-half when they kick-off and see what happens, try and stay with them.

“You’ve got to go out there, take the initiative and go at them. You try and worry about your own game when you have the ball and be really a really solid defensive unit.

“With Andy (Farrell) in, defensively we’re in a really good place. We came into camp and I know it’s been a short turnaround, but from the summer we learnt a lot about ourselves defensively and we’ve watched the clips from the summer already and ironed out a few things that we got caught out with in South Africa. I think we’re in a better place in that respect too.

“We’ve got to go out and not be intimidated, just go for it and that’s the challenge because they’re the best team in the world. It’s going to be a big stage, a big crowd and hopefully a lot of Irish in it and you’ve got to focus on what you’re there for and that’s playing rugby and playing rugby the way you do.

“We’ll worry about them when the time is right, but also have a bit of confidence in what you do.”