Murray will face frosty reception at Murrayfield

GREIG LAIDLAW has warned Conor Murray to expect another cool welcome at Murrayfield following the war of words involving the Ireland scrum-half.

Murray was critical of the Glasgow contingent amongst Vern Cotter’s squad, accusing them of deliberately targeting him and consequently putting him at risk of injury during Munster’s Champions Cup meeting at Scotstoun on January 14.

The Warriors coaching staff and playing squad have been adamant their tactics were robust but firmly within the laws of the game. Now they have been given the backing of the Scotland captain, who will line up opposite Murray this weekend.

“Glasgow did everything within the rules of the game,” said Laidlaw. “As a nine you are always going to get teams putting pressure on you. In that game, Glasgow got a a charge down on him but they were trying to get the ball back – they weren’t trying to deliberately injure the player.

“Will we be putting pressure on him? For sure we will. He’s not going to come to Murrayfield and get an armchair ride. We need to do that to every Irish player but we can expect the same back, I’m sure.”

With that warning ringing loud in his ears, the last thing Murray will have wanted to hear is that his play-making partner Johnny Sexton has been ruled out of the match. The British and Irish Lions linchpin has been ruled out with a calf injury, meaning Ulster’s Paddy Jackson will be tasked with pulling the strings for Joe Schmidt’s team.

Meanwhile, Edinburgh have said Scotland prop WP Nel has undergone surgery on the neck injury that has ruled him out of the Six Nations but have yet to put a date on his return.