Conor Murray ready to step up for Ireland after being overlooked to start first Test against Boks

READY: Ireland's Conor Murray is looking forward to the next Boks test. Pic Credit: Dan Sheridan, Inpho.

Conor Murray would have arrived in South Africa for the two-Test tour against the world champion Springboks, hopeful to start in the absence of the injured Jamison Gibson-Park.

It didn’t turn out that way. Munster-man Craig Casey was given the all-important halfback role against the Boks for the first Test in Pretoria.

For little more than an hour, the inexperienced Casey justified coach Andy Farrell’s faith with a sharp performance.

Casey combined doing the basics well with some x-factor, such as a 50/22 kick moments before his night ended badly from a clattering tackle by Munster teammate RG Snyman.

Casey was knocked out cold when his head collided violently with the firm highveld turf of Loftus Versfeld. Fortunately, he appears to be as well as can be expected. But his tour is over.

Murray, who was on the bench in Pretoria, showed in the 17 minutes he spent on the field as Casey’s replacement, which included a lovely try that displayed a neat turn of pace, that Farrell needn’t worry. The nine jersey will still be in good hands.

It was a welcome cameo from the decorated veteran, whose educated kicking game might well cause some problems for the Boks in the second Test in Durban.

“I feel good, feel fit, feel good about my game for the last part of the season, ready to rock next week.” Murray said.

“Craig played really well, I thought, he had a great game, took a really unfortunate knock. I didn’t see the replay. I don’t think there was any malice in it, he just hit his head off the ground.”

Murray has been around long enough, and seen enough to know that there is still a way back into the series.

He was there when Ireland came from 1-0 down to beat the All Blacks 2-1 in 2022 in New Zealand. And five years earlier in New Zealand, Murray was the Lions’ starting scrumhalf when they came from 1-0 down to draw that epic 2017 series.

He will certainly believe Ireland are capable of turning the tables on the Boks after losing the first Test 27-20 at Loftus.

“They're World Cup champions back for a first game at home and they really brought it physically,” Murray said of the first Test.

“The breakdown was difficult, but as soon as we got a bit of quick ball, we looked dangerous. Andy said: ‘no feeling sorry for ourselves’, and I don't think we should. We’ll have a right go of it next week.

 Ireland conceded a ‘soft’ try to Cheslin Kolbe when James Lowe flicked the ball in-field and the Bok wing was first to pounce by hacking ahead. Ireland switched off for a moment and were punished.

“You might get away with it in club rugby, but in international rugby you get punished,” Murray said of the try.

“That's no secret to us, we knew that, but would like to think we'll clean that up in the week and be a little bit tighter than that.

“There's loads more to our game, defensively and attack-wise that we'll be looking at more so. Those things can be freak instances sometimes.”

Murray scores his side's second try during the first test between South Africa and Ireland at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, South Africa. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Murray will be crucial this week and Farrell, who appeared to be looking to the future with Casey selection, was full of praise for his ageing warrior.

“I actually thought Conor was excellent when he came on,” Farrell said.

“Conor was great during the week (before the first Test), he's playing a lot quicker and he's in good nick. There to support and score the try.”

The Boks meanwhile, are not happy with their own performance so Ireland can expect an even more ferocious opponent this week.

“It was nice to play against Ireland in South Africa (the Boks hadn’t done that for eight years) and there was a great vibe within the team and at Loftus,” flank Pieter-Steph du Toit said.

“But we now need to turn our focus to next week because our goal is to win both matches against them. We made a lot of mistakes, and we must correct that going into the next match.

“The breakdown battle was big. “There were times that they had the upper hand in that area, so it’s definitely one of the areas we’ll focus on this week.”