Who will be Conor Murray’s successor?

He's already up against it, Highlander in this Six Nations. His squad selection had had a lot of commentary, particularly the omission of players like Cooney, and the inclusion of Gibson Park instead. Feeling with some is that he's gone with the tried n trusted and not taken a strong enough chance on players coming up. Same problem at out half, with none of the rest stepping up to the mark sufficiently. I can see another RWC quarter final exit coming up... the more salient question might be will the exit be before or after it?

Intriguing ! I can only conclude that one of the Roar editors is a closet Milo fan :stoked:

Mz and AH Just listened to an interview with Alan Quinlan, not a commentator I rate, but he is an unashamed Munster big noter. His comments on what he wants to see from Conor Murray, "looking to see some zip in his pass". If Alan Q is calling it out, its a thing!

Interesting article AH, thanks ! I was intrigued by your reference to Thomas Perenara and now I cant help wondering if you, like the villain Milo from the movie The Last Boy Scout, insist on calling everyone by their full / correct first name ? eg Thomas rather than TJ, Joseph rather than Joe (nod to Milo there) etc... I only get called by my full first name when I'm in trouble :unhappy: cheers Benjamin

Did not think you would see my comment there, Highlander, as I wrote so late. But thanks for this response. And I value your judgements, and will have a very close look at recent Murray games. "Ireland seem to have lots of depth at halfback, coach just gotta have the courage to pick one" Totally agree re coach courage....and he has other key decisions to make, especially how to best use what he has in different games/what tactics to employ....esp. v England. Playing the same game as last year will see. imo, another defeat.

Jonny Stewart, AC. Just looked at Wiki. and got this: "In 2020, Stewart started his master's degree in Utrecht, where he started playing for the Utrechtse Studenten Rugby Society So I would surmise he has not made the grade with Ulster, and has now gone back to his Law background, with a 2.1 BL Degree from Queens. I hope to talk to a couple of contacts in Ireland soon, and will raise his name....let you know any more I find out. Interestingly a Wallace H S product.......same as Nathan Doak......relatively new Union Shool....in my day they were a hockey school. Ian Whitten and Chris Henry also products, and Nevin Spence, who tragically died with his father and brother in an awful farm accident.

Derm, how is Farrell's coaching being received? Seems to me he is suffering from the same issues as Ian Foster at the AB's. Behaving like a continuity coach when perhaps more change agent action is required.

Lets not inflate the issue Mz. I think he is a fine player and probably the perfect halfback for the early iterations of the Schmidt era, but has never been a player blessed with a top quality pass and now that age is being over-layed upon what a less than optimal technique, its become a core issue for the side. I think his best years were 2013/15 when he was that very direct running halfback, always sniping from the base and had to be constantly watched. Always more a runner than a passer. But time and injury have claimed him. The last 2 England games, the NZ and Japan games at RWC exposed that lack of pace, both of pass and of foot and he just puts those outside him under needless pressure now. Similar to how Peranara got showed up last season. Shame that Cooney didn't get to play the 6N games he was selected for back in March, he was named as a starter and then Covid hit. Ireland seem to have lots of depth at halfback, coach just gotta have the courage to pick one.

Comprehensive analysis of most of the options, AH. I agree that Cooney and Marmion are out of the running due to age and performance. I don't buy in to the clamour that Cooney should be in the current 6N squad. He's a good squad player but seems to shrink into himself on the test stage. Age is also against him. Gibson-Park, to my mind, is also not a long-term test starter. He normally plays the role off the bench at Leinster behind Luke McGrath. Ireland are going to come unstuck if Farrell sees him as Murray's successor. Craig Casey certainly looks promising and it's right that Farrell gives him an early outing at test level to see if he can cope. Alongside him, I'd include Caolin (Kway-o-lin) Blade at Connacht who I think has surpassed Kieran Marmion in the last 12-18 months and deserves a shot - he has age on his side too. Nick McCarthy, moved from Leinster to Munster last season, has been a little bit unlucky in getting game-time. He moved because he thought he'd get more of it, but Munster now have 5 scrum-halves on their books having brought in Paddy Patterson from Leinster on a short-term loan due to injuries and test duty for Murray and Casey. Young Nathan Doak at Ulster, son of former Ulster player/coach, Neil Doak, also looks promising, but at 19, is unlikely to feature for RWC 2023. Conor Murray has certainly recovered a lot of his previous good form this season. His long-term neck injury had an effect and impact on Murray's game long after he got off the treatment table. As Murray said himself, the worry of the injury repeating itself and causing life-long damage, had him hesitating at crucial moments in the game. He's put that behind him now, and his game has improved as a result. Farrell has picked a squad for the Six Nations, but that won't stop him having a review of his player panel after the French match in Round 2 and making a couple of changes if he has to - even taking account of the Covid bubble. His choice of 9s may be one of them. For other hopefuls, their next best chance to impress is likely to be in whatever range of test matches are organised for November this year, with the Lions tour dominating proceedings for the present.

Only reading this article now AC...been out of comms. in some remote country past few days. Good topic, and article. Thanks. Highlander does not rate Connor :happy: I think Connor went through a very poor spell post RWC, but has come back into better form, though below his peak, which imo was around the Lions in NZ series. Like you, I rate Cooney, and was a big mistake not to take him to RWC Japan. I don't see JGP as anything special...competent, yes, but hard for me to place him above several of the other contenders. I like Luke McGrath, the one to watch going forward is Casey.....you may have seen the photo of him in this article :https://www.the42.ie/craig-casey-munster-ireland-5339202-Jan2021/ Poignant photo, that one. A great Munsterman gone too early was Anthony Foley.

'plenty of pace and quality putside sexton' true tho. why is murray getting stick, while sexton could be the link that broke the chain?

erm speed of delivery is a problem yes, but due to the weakness in the forwards. if you look more in depth, you will find that yes, murray's passing technique is worse than smith's, but when compared to the rest of the world, he's rather good, and the spin and range of the passes are prolific. why will you need power if your hands to the job. The pass is fast and accurate for all we need to be concerned.

yep - its horrible, even that gif is nothing more than competant Stands up, passes from his lower arms and wrists, generates no power from his shoulders release position is poor. Its a long list. Google conor murray passing and aaron smith passing and look at the images on the ball release - its a massive difference The speed of delivery from the base of the scrum has been a huge problem for Ireland post 2018.