CONOR MURRAY MUST have sunk comfortably onto the replacements bench in Melbourne and thought ‘job done’.
The scrumhalf had scored a first-half try in the Lions 35-0 win over Melbourne Rebels and played a part in Sean Maitland’s 28th minute score. He also laid a try on a plate for Dan Coles but the prop knocked on two yards from the line.
Murray said, “It was quite pleasing. Last week in Brisbane was disappointing. The main thing we took out of that [Brumbies defeat] was that we didn’t put a physical stamp on the game. That was a huge talking point this week and I think we managed to do that [today] through the whole 80 minutes. Our dominance over them reflected on the scoreboard at the end.”
Murray was slipstreamed for the role as back-up to Mike Phillips by English scrumhalf Ben Youngs but he hopes that a strong 60-minute showing has put him firmly in coach Warren Gatland’s thoughts for the Second Test. The Leicester Tigers’ nine nipped in with a late try but Murray looked assured in his hour-long stay on the AAMI pitch. He said, “I’m very keen [to play]. You want to put your hand up and play as best you can.”
Youngs raced free of a flagging Rebels defence to score the fifth and final try and had the Sky Sports’ duo of Stuart Barnes and Ian McGeechan pressing his case for a starting role in the No.9 jersey on Saturday. Murray, however, has done all he can do for now and is optimistic about playing again on tour.
Murray added, “Particularly on this tour, you’ve had a lot of guys go home with injuries, which is unfortunate. Look at someone like Alex Corbisiero who stood in and did a remarkable job last week. A chance is just around the corner for a majority of people so we’ve just got to stay switched on.”
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