Murray Sets Sights On Boks

With the November Series looming large for the national side, Munster’s Conor Murray looks ahead to Saturday’s series opener against South Africa at the AVIVA Stadium on Saturday – KO: 5:30pm.

Currently ranked second in the world, the South Africans arrive in Ireland buoyed by back to victories in the Rugby Championship against Australia (28-10) and World Champions New Zealand (27-25).

The latter win was the first defeat for the All Blacks in 23 matches since they lost to England at Twickenham in December 2012, while South Africa had enjoyed just once victory over the All Blacks in their previous ten encounters.

Munster and Ireland scrum half Murray discusses where the tourists will bring the challenge on Saturday.

“They get off their line hard and make their hits. You’re going to be on the back foot. South Africa is a team of really big ball carriers and big hitters. Running through them is not something we’d want to do.

“Instead of carrying into a big man it’s about stepping, finding a soft-shoulder and being a bit smarter, maybe having a few micro-plays that we’re looking to play just to drag them out of the line and to create a few softer gaps for us.”

Naturally Murray would welcome a win this weekend, but he feels the initial focus needs to be on getting the performance right amongst a group of players who have not played together since June.

"It would certainly be a good starting point but, we're looking at ourselves, at performing really well and being in control of what we can. That comes with getting our stuff right. Whatever South Africa throw at us we need to be able to deal with.

"Beating a southern hemisphere team would be a good step in the right direction."

This weekend will see the Limerick native embark on his second season under Joe Schmidt at national level.

“I’ve had my fair share of new coaches over the last four years,” he says. “This time last year we were, not feeling Joe out, but we were unsure how he wanted us to play and what he thought of you as a player.

“A year down the line you are under no illusions as to what he thinks of you and how he wants you to play. That’s a good place to be and we are a more confident squad looking back on what we did last year and especially coming so close to beating New Zealand.”

Ireland v South Africa, Guinness Series, Saturday November 8^th at the AVIVA Stadium – KO 5:30pm.