Remember me, Conor?
Strauss insists Irish scrum-half Murray can expect another bruising encounter
IT is the contest that many inside a sold-out Murrayfield can’t wait to witness this afternoon. Scotland No 8 Josh Strauss breaching the Irish defence and bearing down on scrum-half Conor Murray.
The pair have history. Murray was so upset by the tactics Glasgow used against him when Munster visited Scotstoun last month that he accused the Warriors of deliberately trying to injure him.
He claimed in the aftermath that he could have been severely injured and that Strauss targeted his standing leg in a late tackle.
His accusations were angrily denied, but never forgotten by Strauss and his Glasgow team-mates, 13 of whom are in Scotland’s 23-man squad for today’s Six Nations opener.
Even Warriors head coach Gregor Townsend got in on the act and circulated pictures of the incident in an attempt to prove Murray’s accusations were groundless.
Whether the Irishman’s comments were intended to make sure he gets extra protection from French referee Romain Poite today, or whether he was genuinely furious that no action was taken against Strauss at the time, remains to be seen.
What is in no doubt, however, is that the remarks have caused intense ill-feeling between both sets of players which could boil over once the action gets underway.
‘There was no target on his back in that game against Munster,’ said Strauss. ‘We just implemented a strategy to stop his kicking and put pressure on him. We tried to execute it and we will do it again today.
‘I was a little bit surprised he went public afterwards. I don’t know what he’s thinking as I don’t know him very well, but it’s just by chance he’s the No 9 and that’s why it happened.
‘If we can charge him down, we can win the game, so that is why we put pressure on the nine. It all comes down to hard work on our part and we will continue to work hard against Ireland.
‘If there’s no guard around him, we are going to look for that. If there is, we want to get those guards away so we can put pressure on him.
‘It will be part of a physical game. They like the choke tackle and it’s like running into a wall every time you crash into their defence, so it will be tough, but we are ready.’
Murray’s box-kicks are a key part of coach Joe Schmidt’s gameplan for Ireland, so Strauss and openside flanker Hamish Watson will be told to disrupt the No 9 as much as possible as he tries to clear his lines.
Playing such a major role is a big boost for Strauss, who is out of contract with Glasgow at the end of the season and has yet to be offered a new deal. Showing he has a long-term part to play at international level could convince incoming Scotland head coach Townsend to try to ensure the SRU put a new offer in front of him.
‘I was carrying a little bit of an injury back in November, so missed all three of our autumn Tests, which was really quite gutting,’ said the South African-born back-row, who qualifies for Scotland through the residency rule.
‘All I could do after my injury was to go back to Glasgow and play games. I’m happy to play and to prove myself against Ireland. As for staying with Glasgow next season? I have no idea.’
Although Murray (below) will be a marked man, Ireland captain Rory Best is confident he will be able to cope with any pressure he is put under by Vern Cotter’s players.
‘What Scotland are going to do to him, or aren’t going to do to him, is what they have been discussing in the team hotel for the last two weeks or so,’ said Best.
‘All we can do is produce a platform for him. Our forwards have to protect him enough so that he is able to fulfil his role and allow him to execute his box-kicks.
‘Pressing the No 9 is something the opposition do, especially when you have a quality player like Conor against you.
‘Will he be targeted by Scotland? All I can say is that we all know how good a player he is and one of the biggest compliments I can give him is that I would rather play with him than against him.’
Best has warned his team not to allow themselves to be put off by the tide of emotion expected inside a sold-out Murrayfield this afternoon and added: ‘One of the great things in world rugby is the playing of Flower of Scotland and the emotion that evokes in the Scotland team and the fans just before kick-off. We know when the anthem is over, they’ll come out against us ready to go and there will be a lot of emotion to spur them on.
‘We need to make sure that we don’t lose those early battles and lose early scores simply because Scotland are more emotionally charged than us.
‘We have to make sure that we appreciate we’re playing for Ireland, we’re pulling on a green jersey. We have to be 100-per-cent disciplined, but we also can’t be afraid to let out a little emotion ourselves to try to counter the emotion that Scotland will generate inside Murrayfield.
‘Everyone has their own reasons why they play rugby and it’s important the boys draw on things from within themselves today. ‘It might be an anthem, it might be memories of being a kid going down to the old Lansdowne Road and hearing the anthems, it could be a loved one at home, a loved one in the crowd, it can be anything. ‘You draw on that and bring that here to Murrayfield. When it gets darkest in rugby, those memories are what make you go that extra yard, further than you think you can do and that’s what we’re going to need today. ‘I can feel the nervous energy already around the squad and, coupled with that, there is fear. When you come to Murrayfield, if you don’t have that little bit of fear, you’re probably not in a good place because you need to be a bit on edge coming here. ‘I know we beat the All Blacks last year, but that was then and this is now and we have no right just to go out there and beat Scotland because of that.’