9 lives: Murray and Youngs look for spring spark

Murray and Youngs look for spring spark Ireland expects when it comes to Conor Murray, but there’s less certainty in the England camp that Ben Youngs can ignore poor recent club form and produce his Six Nations best, writes Simon Lewis.

An English scrum-half struggling for form and Ireland’s star number nine still working his way back to his optimum level post-injury. Not every head-to-head at Aviva Stadium this evening will be a showdown between players at the peak of their powers, but Peter Stringer would not swap Conor Murray for any of the scrum-halves at the disposal of Ireland and England in this Guinness Six Nations opener.

With Eddie Jones keeping faith with a below-par Ben Youngs of Leicester Tigers for the meeting of the winners of the last five championships and Joe Schmidt welcoming back Murray for his first Test rugby since last summer’s tour to Australia following a neck injury, there is plenty of intrigue about this scrum-half battle between these 2013 Lions squad-mates.

Add to that the new-look back-up for both players, and there was lots for former Munster and Ireland scrum-half Stringer to sink his teeth into as he took a break from RTÉ’s Dancing With The Stars to chew over the nines at the launch of the AIB Future Sparks Festival 2019.

First topic — Murray, whom Stringer believes is not quite back to the world-class standards he has displayed for Munster, Ireland, and the Lions prior to his neck injury. The good news is that, after eight games on the

comeback trail with Munster since November 25, Stringer is confident Murray will not take too much longer regaining his optimum level.

“I don’t think he’s there yet, to be honest. In the role that is asked of him at the moment in terms of his game management, his tactical kicking, and just that composure he brings, he’s bringing that and it’s important for Munster and Ireland that he’s in that position to do it,” Stringer said.

“He is accurate with his kicking, but what we haven’t seen from him really since he’s come back from his injury is probably that physicality he brings to it when he’s got the ball in his hands, taking guys on around the fringes and breaking from lineouts and stuff.

Whether that’s him being a bit cautious, or whether it’s in his head a small bit from coming back from the neck injury, I don’t know. We just haven’t seen it.

“Perhaps he’s been told just do your basics, get your passing on the money and get your kicking on the money and just be that kind of cool head in those pressure situations, when you’re back in your 22.

“Certainly he will grow as the Six Nations goes on and he will certainly improve, but I don’t think we’ve seen him at his best yet. And he’s an invaluable part to Ireland going forward.”

When it comes to this weekend, Stringer believes Murray remains the form horse of the nines at the disposal of either head coach, and the right man to ease the inevitable pressure on half-back partner Johnny Sexton.

“Just given what he’s done and his experience. He’s a guy who just looks controlled, he looks calm and particularly in those areas where the game is becoming so important, you know?

"You might have four or five guys in a ruck from an attack point of view and the defence is fully loaded and the ball is slowed down — there’s no-one else you’d want in that position to control things and to put the ball on the money and not to panic in that situation when things might be going 100 miles an hour and your heart-rate is going 180. So it’s good to have him in those positions, certainly.

“Particularly paired with Sexton when there’s going to be pressure on Johnny. I think Conor is a great guy to have there in terms of relieving that pressure. Johnny’s going to get a lot of heat at the weekend, and pressure from the England back row is going to be relentless, so Conor’s the guy to have in that pressure situation.”

During Murray’s absence from November’s Guinness Series, Schmidt was delighted by the way Connacht’s Kieran Marmion stepped up to the plate to start against the All Blacks, with Leinster’s Luke McGrath finishing the job from the bench in the historic 16-9 home victory.

Yet Schmidt has had to scan down his positional depth chart to numbers four and five in the absence of Murray’s regular — but injured — deputies. Ulster’s John Cooney will provide bench cover against the English after four Test caps in 2018, while the third scrum-half in the current squad is Connacht’s uncapped Caolin Blade, a more-than-capable deputy for Marmion at provincial level after his post-November ankle surgery.

Stringer does not believe this inexperienced back-up will add to Murray’s burden other than the star man getting as many minutes as possible.

“I don’t think Conor will be putting himself under pressure about that, that’s the last thing he’ll be thinking of. He’ll be allowed to do his job but for the overall picture, the coaches will want to make sure that they get as much out of Conor in the game as they can and hope he can influence it as best he can.

“Cooney started the season very well, I’ve been very impressed with him and his kicking, his control — his composure in those situations is really, really good. He’s been out for a bit of time with an injury, but he’s back in again and he’s a guy who likes to get stuck in and he’s a good running threat as well.

"But he’s very inexperienced at that level and I know you’re going to have to get guys on the field at some point, but it’s a position where with Kieran and Luke injured, you’re going down to John Cooney and Caolin Blade, who I’ve been very impressed with as well in a Connacht side that likes to throw the ball around. He’s a nuggety little guy who likes to get stuck in and likes to get his hands on the ball.

“It’s probably a bit early for him, but he is someone there you could put in, although Cooney’s the guy who’s been around a little bit longer and is a little bit more composed in those situations.”

Schmidt, speaking at the Six Nations launch in London last week, expressed his satisfaction with Murray’s progress since his return from injury in late November.

“There’s been a progression in every game he’s played since he came back,” the Ireland boss said.

By his own admission, he was pretty scratchy in the first two, but I thought he was really good building up to that Exeter game, and the week before as well. I think against Gloucester, the width of his pass to Joey to score, picking that pass — those are the things that he does well. I think he’s building nicely.

If there is confidence that Murray will improve over the course of the championship, there is less certainty in the England camp that opposite number tomorrow Ben Youngs will able to ignore poor recent club form with Leicester and return to the Test arena in the sort of form that made him first choice for national boss Eddie Jones and predecessor Stuart Lancaster.

A shaky performance for the Tigers at home in their Heineken Champions Cup defeat to Ulster prompted a withering review from TV analyst Stuart Barnes, who wrote that Youngs was “desperately short of confidence” and had failed to take the opportunity to play himself into form for club and country. Furthermore, his lack of influence, said Barnes, was shown up by Cooney, who assuredness offered a stark contrast to the English nines.

Added to this, Jones jettisoned Harlequins’ Danny Care, his chosen scrum-half finisher and England’s most capped half-back, as well as Saracens’ Richard Wigglesworth, in favour of Wasps’ uncapped Dan Robson, who toured South Africa last summer without facing the Springboks but was forced out of the English squad last November with an ankle injury.

Stringer sees the dilemma that faced Jones when selecting his team for Dublin.

“Ben Youngs on his day, when he plays well, is a great player. He’s a guy who likes to bring the forwards into the game and is also a bit of a running threat. He’s a good kicker but he’s low on a bit of confidence and they’ve got rid of England’s most capped scrum-half as well, Danny Care, who they were always kind of looking at as that kind of impact sub.

“They were looking at Robson in the autumn series, but he was injured, so they gave Care an opportunity to start a few games and he didn’t really take it so he is probably tied to that role as the impact guy rather than starting a game and having that control.

“I think Robson has a little bit more of that, that if needs be, he is probably a better starter than Danny Care would be. So it’s interesting for them. I’ve played against Dan Robson, he’s a great player, a real threat and a quality club player, but he’s uncapped and very inexperienced at that level. Still, if we see a little bit of a drop in form from Ben Youngs, you could see a new half-back pairing for England.

“So it’s quite uncertain for them.”

Youngs believes that in the absence of both Care and Wigglesworth, he feels a responsibility to mind junior partner Robson, just three years younger at 26, but 80 caps behind the Tigers man at Test level.

“Probably makes me feel responsible to make sure I look after him but also help him as much as I can, because I remember when I started you do need a bit of a help, especially in positions like half-back where you have to call plays, you have to dictate, you have to manage the game, boss the forwards and do all that stuff.

“There’s a huge thing that comes with that, so I’m just doing my most to help him any way I can. But Dan is a very good player, a very established player. A lot of things he already knows.

It’s more making sure he’s settled around the squad and he feels at ease taking control of that forward pack with guys he’s only ever played against and now he’s with.

“He came on tour in South Africa as well, so he knows a lot of guys already and those relationships have already been built up. I’m looking forward to seeing his progress for sure.”

Just as long as it remains as a finisher.