Marmion aims to seize his chance if Murray is ruled out of Tests
IRELAND scrum-half Kieran Marmion knows he hasn’t secured the back-up spot behind Conor Murray with a World Cup on the horizon but he is determined to push for his place ahead of the November internationals.
Murray is currently out injured and the mysterious nature of his neck complaint means he isn’t guaranteed game-time against Italy, Argentina, New Zealand and USA.
Marmion (26) has played 22 times for Ireland and has been Murray’s understudy recently.
But his former Connacht teammate, Ulster’s John Cooney has been in outstanding form in the PRO14.
“John has been going well. He has been doing really well. He has been doing that for a few years and was doing that here as well. There are no surprises there really,” said Marmion.
“Luke McGrath is going really well too. There is great competition there. Obviously I haven’t had too many opportunities yet this season. When I do get out there this weekend I can kick on from last year.
“Of course I am looking forward to the November internationals. Hopefully I can put in a few good performances here, get in the squad and kick on from there.
Everyone
“It’s a big year for everyone in Irish rugby. Everyone from all of the provinces wants to go to that World Cup.
“That’s good for everyone. It means people will keep performing better. Hopefully the squad gets better from that.
“I don’t think anyone knows how bad his (Murray’s) injury is. To be honest, I don’t really think about it too much. It’s just whenever I get the opportunity I am performing as best as I can.”
Marmion has now racked up 142 appearances for Connacht since his debut in the 2012-13 season.
He came off the replacements’ bench in the 32-13 bonus-point win over Zebre and is determined to make an impression against Edinburgh at Murrayfield tomorrow.
“First week back. It was good to get a bit of a blowout off the bench there.
“The conditions weren’t ideal for running rugby but I’m looking forward to getting out there this weekend and getting a good few minutes under the belt,” said Marmion.
“I have only had a week or two full training back. It is tough, I will take a few weeks to get that out of the system. Every week you are just keep looking to improve on that.”