VIDEO: Conor Murray: No Paulie, no panic
By Grainne McGuinness and Shaun Cronin
Conor Murray is adamant that the high-profile absentees from Ireland’s starting line-up aren’t a cause for panic.
Paul O’Connell and Peter O’Mahony have both been ruled out of the rest of the Rugby World Cup due to injury, while Sean O’Brien is serving a one-match ban.
But despite this, Murray said it has been business as usual in the Ireland camp ahead of Sunday’s quarter-final against Argentina.
After today’s team announcement, he was asked if he felt he needed to take on more responsibility because of the missing players.
“No,” Murray answered. “Because Paulie’s out and Pete, I don’t think there’s a need to panic, to try and be different players during the week, try and do something different.
“I think we’re a tight group, we know exactly what we want to do. There’s plenty of voices already in the team.”
O’Connell is today undergoing surgery on his damaged hamstring, but Murray revealed the injured captain intends to return to the camp while he recuperates.
“Obviously it’s a bit of a loss not having Paulie’s voice out on the pitch.,” he told reporters. “He was here with us early in the week, he’ll be back with us.”
In the meantime, the Ireland and Munster scrum-half expects the players named in the matchday squad to step up and get the job done.
“Having said that, this is the group that’s there now, we’re the 23 that are going to go out and try and win this game.
“It’s up to us.”
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
