Murray menace is plain for all to see as a key cog in Irish machine
GREIG OLIVER is as proud a Borderer as Gregor Townsend but after a decade in the south of Ireland he has played a greater part in the development of the men Scotland will be facing at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
The former Hawick and Scotland scrum-half left the country of his birth in 2007, heading to Limerick and the home of his wife Fiona, to take up an opportunity to coach AllIreland League side Garryowen.
He would become part of the Irish RFU’s rugby development system, working with the Munster academy, and Conor Murray in particular.
Oliver coached Ireland Under-20s, which included a host of current stars, notably Robbie Henshaw, Chris Farrell, Rory Scannell and Darren Sweetnam.
While fly-half Johnny Sexton tends to attract many of the headlines, Oliver is a huge fan of Murray and insists that his slick service, speed and kicking threat makes him a key cog in the Irish machine.
Murray became good friends with Stuart Hogg on the British and Irish Lions tour only to rule the Scot out of it with an accidental elbow to the eye as Hogg chased a high ball.
However, Murray is a big fan of Hogg’s and Scottish rugby — he donated a special Munster jersey to Doddie Weir’s charity last month, which raised over £4,000 — and Oliver believes that the Calcutta Cup display has made the Ireland team more wary.
‘I’ve been really impressed by Scotland,’ he said. ‘Gregor wants to speed things up, get pace on the ball — and that’s been his philosophy for a long time.
‘What he did with Glasgow made people in Ireland sit up and he’s doing it again with Scotland. If you listen to the media here in recent weeks, they’re worried about Scotland.
‘They showed against England their ability to finish and some of their play was out of the top drawer. John Barclay is a major influence on this team — how he approaches the game, his skills and how influential he is in the games — and every time Munster played Scarlets John was highlighted in the preparation as the danger man.
‘I remember when he was coming through and the talent he had, how he shone, and it’s great to see him back where he belongs, having an influence at the highest level.’
Oliver has enjoyed an interesting career, from working on his local newspaper, The
Southern Reporter — alongside Townsend’s father Peter — to coaching Hawick to league and cup triumphs, Scotland Under20s, Border Reivers academy and then developing Munster and Ireland stars of the future.
‘I remember a funny story working with Peter which shows you the rivalries we had then,’ recalled Oliver. ‘Peter had been a Gala player and was on the management when I started playing for Hawick and we had a midweek game at Netherdale.
‘It came to the end of the day at the paper and I couldn’t find my boots anywhere. I was sure I’d packed them in my bag for work, but I had to make some frantic calls to see if someone could get me a pair of boots by kick-off.
‘I got to the ground and when I walked into the away dressing room there they were hanging on a peg… I’m pretty sure that was Peter Townsend!’
Oliver was one of Scotland’s greatest replacements — he was selected more than 50 times as back-up to Roy Laidlaw and then Gary Armstrong from 1987-91, but won just three caps due to subs only being used in the event of injury and Laidlaw and Armstrong never leaving the pitch.
Oliver played in many non-cap matches that would now be Tests and was on the bench throughout the 1990 Grand Slam, so he knows a good team when he sees it.
He knows Townsend and has more insight to Joe Schmidt than any Scot, as he works with the Ireland head coach regularly through the year.
So what kind of game does he expect on Saturday?
‘I think it will be a great tactical battle,’ he said. ‘Joe is the most astute coach I’ve worked with in terms of knowing his players technically, and tactically, and he will have a Plan A, B and C, and more. He sets a challenging environment for the players but he will have a plan for Scotland, with small details that become huge in the game.
‘Ireland are good at working as one, they understand their plan and have shrewd tactical nous in Conor and Johnny, good goforward in Bundee Aki and threats across the field. They will go for quick ball, kick astutely and look to put certain Scotland players under pressure — and will be hoping Finn has an off-day! His play against England was phenomenal — that pass was brilliantly weighted — so they know they need to put pressure on him, on Greig Laidlaw and around the rucks.
‘There are not a lot of weaknesses in either side. Scotland have a great back three and the aerial battle will be key, particularly when the game slows down a bit, but I expect it to come down to small margins on Saturday — extra metres in a carry, winning a scrap on the floor, turning over ball that looked lost, taking a half-chance.
‘Ireland know they were way off the pace at Murrayfield last year and that will still hurt, so they’ll want to make a big statement in the first half.
‘But Scotland have a fantastic opportunity to change the away record Warren Gatland made a thing of in the Lions selection (he cited it as a reason against selecting Scots), and Gregor and the Scotland players will see that as a great motivational challenge — something to attack.
‘It will be some game. It’s brewing up nicely!’
‘THEY KNOW THEY WERE OFF PACE AT MURRAYFIELD LAST YEAR’