Murray a ‘genuine option’ at halftime against England



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Conor Murray is a “genuine option” to start in Ireland’s mid-trip to play England next Saturday, says head coach Andy Farrell.

Captain Johnny Sexton was retired after 29 minutes of the team’s 32-9 win over Wales at Aviva Stadium on Friday night and replacement Billy Burns, making his debut, came out for a head injury evaluation at minute 62.

The Ulster player was replaced by Murray, who scored eight points and performed all his mid-game duties well.

“In fact, he thinks he’s already a high medium,” Farrell said with a smile at the postgame press conference.

“He did pretty well, didn’t he? Conor has played there before for us, he’s a smart rugby player.

“He understands what’s going on on the baseline, not just the outside half or the scrum half.

“He ran the boat very well for us, so it’s definitely a genuine option.”

Farrell felt his team was worthy of winning on the night: “I thought it was better than a 10 point lead at halftime and then the second half a bit disjointed at times, but I thought Wales did a good job on our speed. Ball and breakdown, it just kind of stopped the continuity a little bit, “Farrell said.

“Overall, I thought it was a dominant performance and the scoring is reflective, I would have thought.”

Sexton and Burns were replaced

Jamison Gibson-Park was hailed by Farrell for his scrum-half performance and Sexton, who will have an injured hamstring scan tomorrow, also backed Murray to face England if necessary.

“He did very well,” said the 35-year-old, who won his 100th game.

“When you’re a born footballer like him and you know the game as well as he does, it’s never perfect, but it performed brilliantly.

“Obviously, against England at Twickenham, it’s a different kind of game, but I’m sure if they put him there he would do a good job.

“He is a brilliant competitor and a great player and we still believe that he is world class in our environment.”

Sexton, meanwhile, remains optimistic about running off at Twickenham.

“It doesn’t feel too serious. Just very frustrating. At first I thought I was going to be able to run away, but unfortunately not,” Sexton said.

“Tomorrow I’ll probably get a scan and I’ll see if there is any minor damage, but I’m still hopeful for next week.”

Asked about the possibility of facing England with the number 10 jersey on the back, Murray said: “I will tell [Andy, ‘give me the jersey’, see how he reacts,” he said half in jest.

“Training week in, week out with the 10s outside you, having a bit of an understanding of what they are wanting from you as a 9 and then it did make it a little bit easier to slot in one position over.

“I know it’s an awful lot different but just having a decent idea of the way we want to play as a team [helps]. ”

Farrell said he is hopeful that late retirements Iain Henderson and Jacob Stockdale will return to training next week.



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