Conor Murray: Revenge over Scotland isn't the motivator

"It's nothing to do with revenge or anything," says Conor Murray dismissing Scotland's arrival as something touching on the emotional spectrum.

In this week of the Oscars, denying an Irish narrative with some edge to it for Joe Schmidt’s preferred stables of focus and detail is familiar ground.

Scotland’s sucker punch last season that deflated aspirations so early in the competition can be no motivation when clarity and process have become the principal companions of Irish success.

It is in that vein the Irish scrum half expects to continue. Revenge is just so unreliable and out of control.

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“Like any team, you do a bit of homework, come together with a plan. This Scotland team is no different,” says Murray.

“They’re a hugely dangerous team. They’re growing in confidence after the England game. With what happened last year you can’t afford to take your eye off the ball. It was early doors last year and we couldn’t catch up.”

As the squad arrived into their team base on Sunday, Murray was thanking his luck that the ruck in which his leg was caught in the second half of the Welsh game did not twist his knee more seriously.

In a similar situation, England's Ben Youngs ruptured a medial ligament. The 28-year-old Leicester player sustained the nasty injury in the ninth minute of England's opener against Italy at the Olympic Stadium in Rome.

“We just got counter-rucked and they managed to push a player back on top of me,” explains Murray.

“It was kind of like what happened Ben Youngs when he did – his ACL I think. I just managed to get my knee out of the ground in time so that it wasn’t too serious.

“I’ve strained my knee like that before. It’s sore at the time obviously, by the way I was rolling around. But it quickly comes right. I’ve been working hard with the physios and I feel pretty good.”

For that reason Murray has been gingerly making his way around the receding winter wonderland of Carton House and the east coast. The simple equation has been snow plus poorly knee equals stay inside.

“There was plenty of movies watched,” he says.

Murray is over it and may, ahem, look to resume his kicking duties at any time. The match against Wales was unusual in that Johnny Sexton, Joey Carbery and Murray all kicked points.

The three and occasionally Rob Kearney sometimes practice from the tee with some side bets.

“Not with Johnny,” he quickly corrects before adding the kicking of the Irish outhalf has resumed to its normal excellent state and quite frankly is in a different league.

“Maybe with Joey, a few coffees on the line after training. I think I owe him a few at the moment,” adds Murray. “If these situations keep cropping up, it’s something I have to keep driving and practising.”

The popular thinking on the situation happening again with Sexton missing four kicks in a match, is that it may occur the next time Storm Emma meets the Beast.

Still, given Greig Laidlaw should be on the other side of the scrum from Murray ensures kicking will be central, especially if discipline falters on either side.

Laidlaw was asked to play 80 minutes for a desperate Clermont looking for a win last weekend, something Sexton knows all about from his days with Racing ‘92.

But Irish discipline has been good. It is the wide defence that was troublesome to the point of a frisson of nerves shuddering around the stadium. In those fraught minutes Wales may even have done Schmidt something of a frightful service in exposing Ireland so ruthlessly.

Murray believes in a little tinkering under the bonnet, in bleeding a pipe, tightening a nut checking the timing.

“Late in games, we’ve been disappointed,” he agrees. “Our defence is in a good place. There’s just a few little fixes here and there that we know are within our control.

“No better opportunity to fix them than against a Scotland team who are really dangerous out wide. And that’s the way the competition goes: you get better and better week on week. That’s our aim.

“It has to be better than what it was because they’re full of threats.”

Ireland's spoil heap of failed Grand Slam bids don't add up to an Academy Award winning film script either. But the rare wins might do. Murray is wise enough to know not to include the Grand Slam in a match in which it doesn't belong. The baubles don't come in beating Scotland. Still.

“Yeah, you can sense it. Lads training today, you can tell it’s a big week,” he says. “Coming in on Sunday, you could tell by people’s energy that it’s a big week.”