‘That’s just outside noise’ - Conor Murray kicks Eddie Jones’ “pattern player” jibe to touch

Eddie Jones and his English side were circling the air space around Dublin when Andy Farrell unveiled one of his several team selection surprises this afternoon.

While Conor Murray was fit and available, not many reckoned he would be chosen to renew the age-old partnership with Jonathan Sexton at half-back.

So much so that Jones, speaking this morning, was ruminating upon how the Irish dynamic has changed with Jamison Gibson-Park’s presence at nine alongside his club partner.

“‘We haven’t worried too much about Ireland and their selection, but Gibson-Park is a bit more of an unstructured threat,” said the English coach.

“He tends to look for the opportunities to take it on himself, whereas Murray was more of a pattern player for the Joe Schmidt-coached sides.”

Jones, who in any event expects an aerial bombardment, may yet have to change tack; as far as Murray is concerned, there is little need for him to do, despite being pigeon-holed as a metronomic box-kicker.

“That’s just what the outside noise is, I suppose, but I’ve huge belief in what we’re doing here and the coaches are the very same, they back you to back yourself and put on a show and back your skill-set,” says the 31-year-old Munster man, restored after an injury spell to win his 89th cap at Lansdowne Road this Saturday after missing out since the opening day defeat to Wales.

“For me it definitely goes further than kicking the ball in the air. That’s obviously a big part of the tactics in international rugby. It’s something we do well, something England do really well, so that will be one element of what’s to come at the weekend.”

For Ireland however, so many other elements remain rooted in uncertainty, from attack to defence, communication to physical accuracy; and not just this season but in four successive defeats in this fixture, which have unleashed a pile of lessons to be absorbed.

“There are lot of things. We’ve looked at over the past few meetings, I think one thing in particular, you’re always conscious of how physical England are going to be, how vocal they are when they are physical, physically dominant over you," he said.

“I think the last time we played them we actually turned up in that area and we did quite well. It was actually the smaller details in terms of the skills of our attack game that we actually came up a little bit short on, which is usually not the case. I suppose maybe we were really focused on being physical against such a big side against England.

“So we definitely need to bring that again this weekend, that physicality. They are a team that if you let them get on top of you in those areas it’s very hard to play rugby against them so that will be a starting point like it always is.

“Physicality in the game of rugby is fairly important but in terms of our decision-making and attacking we hope to be a little better than we were the last time.

“We’ve been working really hard with the buzz, the atmosphere in camp has been great all week, it’s huge steps and for me personally I’m just delighted to be back and ready to give it a go.

“Any time you come up against England there is that motivation to not be bullied around the place, it’s definitely going to be there.

“In terms of working on other things within our game in terms of attack and backing ourselves, you know, we’ve strived to improve that this week and it’s gone well in training, definitely.

"The messaging has been really clear, the players are really clear on what we're trying to do and I think there's a big excitement about what we can produce against England.

“It's the ultimate test, England, one of the best teams in the world at home. We really have to be on our game."

Like Ireland, his campaign has been fitful; a hamstring injury sustained in the build-up to the France game allowed Gibson-Park to seize his opportunity.

“It was quite frustrating, I was looking forward to getting back out there after the Wales frustration but that’s the job we have, that’s the world we live in," he said.

“It’s been tough watching on to be honest with you. I enjoyed the rehab with the physios and things but you’d much rather be out with the group working towards the weekend. It was an unusual feeling not to have that while still being in camp.

“Thankfully I got through the rehab well and now I feel great. It was very close a couple of times to coming back but didn’t want to rush it so I’m fit from last week and looking forward to getting back out there.”

With Ireland desperately needing a strong finish to a campaign which brimmed with promise but has hitherto fallen below par, Murray is hoping that his experience of the big occasion can prove decisive.

"It's worked out in the past before. It's probably in your preparation with these big games. You know if you're not prepared and up to scratch, you can be found out even more so in the big games," he said.

"You enjoy playing against your opposite number or a really good side like England are at the moment.

"You want to put your best foot forward and show people what you can do. You don't need any extra motivation for these games, England at home, I'm looking forward to it massively."

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