IT has been a year of firsts for Conor Murray. First Munster cap, First Ireland cap, First World Cup, First Heineken Cup home appearance and now a first appearance in an away Heineken Cup game.
“It has been great to come back from the World Cup. Hopefully the experience I gained from the World Cup will stand to me now. I have played in France before in the Amlin Cup against Brive, but I suppose this is going to be tougher. The game against Northampton was high intensity and high pressure too. That will stand to me too I hope”.
The Patrickswell native and former St Munchin’s pupil has fitted into the Munster team seamlessly. Ronan O’Gara has been quoted in the past as saying that Murray “looks like he has been there for years”. The fast passing number nine has overtaken Peter Stringer and Tomas O’Leary in the race for the scrumhalf spot.
The whirlwind rise has been taken in his stride though. Even if it did take some getting used to.
“It {the attention} was hard to deal with at the start. I roomed with Keith Earls at the World Cup and he explained to me how to deal with different things. He managed it well. He has a similar rise as I had, so I took his advice and hopefully I can deal with it like him. The thing is that the jersey can change at any time. I am not going to settle into for good. The thing about growing up in the academy system was that the main aim was to make the first team. It might have been a bit quicker than some people thought. It was still the aim to me.”
Murray, 22 since April, admits to being a massive Munster fan long before he had the chance to wear the famous red.
“I remember going to the games. I never hopped the wall like Paul O’Connell and a few more in the squad. (They owe the Munster branch some money) I used to go in early with my parents friends and go down by the tunnel where the players came out.”
As Murray remembers his days as a fan, it appears that his on field partnership with Ronan O’Gara goes further back than last season.
“I remember running onto the pitch alright looking for Ronan O’Gara’s autograph after a few games in Thomond Park”, quipped Murray.
The pair are now pivotal for Munster, with Murray gaining in World recognition with every game.
“It was daunting at first to even train with the seniors, but that changed with the more run outs you get with the team.”
With Castres up this weekend, let’s hope the Patrickswell man gets more from O’Gara than his name on a piece of paper.
