TACTICS TALK:
Conor Murray try (Ireland v Italy)
1 Conor Murray spots that Ireland have a 3v1 overlap wide on the left. The scrum-half links well with Dan Leavy, but his work is far from done yet as Murray demonstrates why he is one of the best in the world.
2 Joe Schmidt is big on his players running decoy lines as even if they are not going to get the ball, the Kiwi wants them to have an impact. Watch Iain Henderson here as he takes Sergio Parisse out of the equation, which creates the gap for Murray to run a superb support line.
3 You can see Parisse remonstrating with referee Romain Poite (circled), and Ireland take full advantage as Keith Earls shifts the ball onto Jacob Stockdale. Tommaso Benvenuti is far too narrow in defence, and Stockdale recognises that as he draws the winger in before releasing Jack Conan down the left wing. Murray’s role is once again crucial here, as he points to the open space that has been created by Henderson’s clever decoy line.
4 Conan shows great awareness to step back inside off the touchline (blue circle in pictures 3 and 4) to the space which Murray has pointed to. Murray runs an arcing line on his outside. After that, the only question that remains is; can Conan put Murray away? Tommaso Allan is up against it as the last line of defence and Conan skilfully picks off the pass to send the Munster man scampering clear unopposed to score what was a brilliant try.