CONNACHT’S MAGNIFICENT 2016 win over Leinster in the Pro12 final in Murrayfield didn’t create much of an impression with current lock forward Niall Murray who admitted this week he didn’t even bother watching the match.
The then 16-year old from south Roscommon was more interested in Gaelic football and soccer and it was only later that year that he tried his hand at rugby when his mother brought him to a training session in Buccaneers.
And while Portumna’s John Muldoon was lifting the Pro12 trophy in Edinburgh, teenager Murray was more keen to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Roscommon footballers Karol Mannion and Senan Kilbride who were from the same St Brigid’s club as him.
“I didn’t watch it, I watched it back. I wasn’t a rugby fan at the time. I don’t remember what I was doing. I just remember hearing after the game that Connacht won but I didn’t really know much about Connacht to be honest.
“I was at home anyway but I don’t know what I was doing. I was playing Gaelic and soccer at the time,” said Murray.
St Brigid’s, who won ten Roscommon SFC titles between 2005 and 2017, were one of the most successful clubs in the country back then so it was hardly surprising that Murray from Brideswell would want to follow in their footsteps.
But like his current Connacht captain Jack Carty, who also played for St Brigid’s and Roscommon minor footballers, Murray began to concentrate on rugby and his progress was rapid despite having never played it until he was 16.
Within three years he made his senior debut for Connacht, coming off the bench against Gloucester in the European Challenge Cup, having thrived with Buccaneers and the Connacht academy, with the 6’7’ lock helping Ireland win the U-20 Six Nations grand slam in 2019.
He has since been joined by his younger brother Darragh in the Connacht squad and as they head to South Africa to take on the Stormers in Saturday’s URC semi-final, the 23-year old is now a mainstay in the side with 55 appearances, 40 of them starts.
“Last year we didn’t have the season we wanted but this season we are in the perfect place, in the semis, the biggest stage I have played on so hopefully we can progress and win one myself.
“We have all been in semi-finals, the whole group, we are a talented bunch so it is a next step to finally get to a semi-final at senior level. I have won a grand slam at U20s and we have all been there. It is just progressing to a next step and this is the next step for us.”
He knows they face a big task against the reigning champions, who have only been turned over once in two years in Cape Town, but the late convert to rugby is relishing the chance to perform on this stage.
“We played them at the start of the year but they didn’t have all the Springbok guys, so they are obviously going to bring enormous physicality around the park and scrum time and maul time.
“They are going to bring brains to lineout time and open field so we are going to have to prepare all our weapons and unleash them. It’s going to physical, I can tell you that much anyway. We are going to have to dig in, all 23 of us,” added Murray.
The game is set to attract a lot more interest in south Roscommon this time than the final in 2016, given that Kiltoom’s Carty is skippering them and the Murray brothers from Brideswell are in the travelling squad along with experienced prop Denis Buckley from near Roscommon town.
