Marmion: It’s up to us to bring lads up to Irish standards
KIERAN Marmion will return to familiar surrounds this afternoon – back in the green of Connacht, back in the Sportsground, and more pertinently, back in the position he knows best.
With 74 minutes on the clock at Twickenham, Ireland’s backs were against the wall as they continued to repel the wave of English attacks.
Johnny Sexton and Bundee Aki had already been forced off injured, which meant that when Keith Earls collapsed to the turf, Joe Schmidt’s options were severely limited.
Marmion was the only back left on the bench, yet when the backup scrum-half was asked to fill in on the wing for the closing stages, there was no sense of panic from anyone.
On one hand, that is because the Kiwi has drilled his players so much that they know their roles down to the finest detail, but even still, the majority of Marmion’s work in the build-up had been done from scrum-half.
COPED
The mind wandered back to 2016 when the 26-year-old was twice called upon on the wing. He coped well in his seven-minute cameo against the All Blacks in Dublin, and a week later, he impressed again when he played 40 minutes out wide.
Before that, Marmion’s only time on the wing had come in his underage days back in Wales, but since then he has often run in the unfamiliar position during training.
That said, to be asked to come on and help Ireland over the line to a historic Grand Slam, against an England side that were throwing everything at them, must have been a daunting experience.
“You just have to get on with it, I’ve been there in that position a few times now,” Marmion tells the
Irish Independent, dismissing any notion that he might have overawed by the occasion.
“I have run there a few times in training so it’s not that unfamiliar. I guess there is a bit less running out there so it’s not too bad!
“You just have to get on with it, and just trust yourself. That’s it really – just get involved and get on with it.
“You don’t get too much time to think about what’s going on. You’re straight out there and into the thick of things. There aren’t too many extra nerves, I just get on with it.
“I felt pretty comfortable. The lads around you make the situation pretty easy. There is a lot of help going on.
“All of them were very calm. The lads outside of you, inside you, everyone is just calm and sharp. Everyone is on the same page and that’s what makes it so easy.”
Marmion certainly played his part in Ireland’s success, yet for all the plaudits he got, particularly from Schmidt, scrum-half is where he wants to be impressing from.
Having a player of Conor Murray’s calibre ahead of him has limited his game-time, but he does feel that he is narrowing the gap.
Returning to Connacht as a Grand Slam champion will inevitably raise Marmion, Bundee Aki and Quinn Roux’s standards, and what they demand of those around him.
“It’s great, it’s something that not many Irish players have managed to do so it’s obviously great to have won it,” Marmion reflects.
“Especially to do it with Bundee and Quinn here at Connacht as well. It’s something that we can look back on in a few years and be pretty happy with, but hopefully there is a few more to come as well.
“Tim (Allnutt) was saying to us that we are probably the first Connacht players to have that (Grand Slam), so obviously it’s huge for us and huge for Connacht.
“It’s something that we have to bring back here to try and raise the standards as much as we can.
“There is high standards here but when you go up to camp, it’s a whole another level. I think it’s on us a good bit, to bring lads up to where we have been and try and push Connacht on from there.”
Becoming more of a vocal presence around the Sportsground is one of Marmion’s main aims. Having played 137 times for Connacht, he is now one of the Westerners’ most experienced players.
The next step is to find his voice, which as he explains is something that Kieran Keane and Schmidt constantly encourage him to do.
“I’m trying to grow at it. It probably wouldn’t come too naturally to me, but it’s something in Connacht that I have been trying to be pushed forward for more by KK (Keane) and Nige (Carolan).
“It’s just trying to give opinions and stuff in meetings. There are a lot of lads there who probably wouldn’t be as experienced as I am.
“I’m maybe just trying to voice my opinions a bit more and help lads through, who may be a bit fresher and newer than I am.”
EYEBROWS
A few eyebrows were raised last weekend when Marmion wasn’t included against Edinburgh, and it is interesting to note that the player himself had expected to be playing.
Instead, he was rested for the defeat, which given his amount of game-time during the Six Nations left some supporters perplexed.
Marmion returns to the starting line-up today, however, as Connacht look to advance to the Challenge Cup semi-final at the expense of Gloucester.
The Westerners’ season hinges on today’s last-eight clash, and Marmion made no bones about that.
“Absolutely yeah,” he says. “This is our best way through to the Champions Cup now because it’s not really in our hands in the league. We’ll obviously try and win all the games we have left but this is a huge game to get us there.
“If we don’t qualify for that, it would be hugely disappointing. Everyone wants to make sure we win this game and give ourselves the best opportunity for that next year.
“I want to be playing in the Champions Cup.”
Victory this afternoon would go a long way towards achieving that.