'That frustrated me, at times, because I didn't agree with quite a lot of it' Conor Murray found the best possible answer, too
"I had no idea. It was such a weird build-up. Over the last few years, with injuries and all that, I was really nervous."- is one of those occurrences that, in retrospect, seem inevitable. In reality, his selection was anything but.Having broken into the Lion Test squad in 2013 and started all three of the 2017 games against the All Blacks, Warren Gatland clearly sees what every coach that has ever worked with Murray sees.
Murray may have been in decent form for Munster, heading into the Six Nations, but many Irish fans were keen for a change. Jamison Gibson-Park and John Cooney were pushing him for his starting berth while Craig Casey was a clear and present threat, at Munster. Murray started the away defeat to Wales but Gibson-Park then got three starts in a row.
"That frustrated me, at times, because I didn't agree with quite a lot of it. But you do want to prove them wrong, even if they're not telling the right story. So that motivated me, quite a bit." It was all the more frustrating, then, when a hamstring tweak saw him sidelined for two Six Nations games. He did not get off the bench against Scotland and it was jarring."Because of the way the Scotland game went," he recalled,"I think Johnny had a knock and Garry had done his ankle, and I didn't end up coming on...