It's an ill wind and all that. The decision to rest Conor Murray for last Friday's open session in Monaghan meant a Thursday evening call from Joe Schmidt to Kieran Marmion. He then had to jump in the car for the three-hour drive from Galway that night and take part the next day. That, in turn, meant his missing out on Connacht's Pro12 win over the Dragons last Saturday.
However, coupled with Schmidt pointedly praising Marmion for upping the tempo in an admittedly brief, 11-minute cameo in Ireland's 63-10 win in Rome, it does suggest that the Connacht scrumhalf's value is becoming more appreciated. He is also becoming more familiar with the Ireland set-up.
“The more exposure you get, obviously the more confidence you take from that. In Monaghan it was pretty much a game against the [Irish] Under-20s, so it was great to be involved in those sort of scenarios. You can take confidence away from that,” Marmion says.
It can’t be easy being the understudy to a player who is widely regarded as indispensable. All but one of Marmion’s 10 caps in four seasons have been off the bench, but he readily acknowledges that Murray is not only the best scrumhalf in Ireland, but possibly in the global game.
“Obviously I want to challenge him but at the moment I think he’s probably the best in the world. I guess, just his basics, he’s so good at, and that’s something I want to improve on to get closer to him. He’s going really well at the moment so I have to keep trying as hard as I can to improve as much as I can to get as close to him as I can.”
Best passer
Repeating his view that it is “the basics” of Murray’s game which set him apart, Marmion says: “Joe is always driving on to me about the basics of the game. I mean, when you step up to the Irish standard, players have a lot less time on the ball so it’s just about making sure everyone’s as sharp as possible.”
“I mean, he’s probably the best passer and kicker in the game, especially his kicking at the moment is so accurate, and I think that’s something I want to try to get to. You just have to work away at it. It’s repetition. Obviously he’s a lot bigger than me, so he gets the leverage in his passing and his kicking, so I just have to be sharper and try to get my release on the ball quicker, and try to make sure the lads outside me have more time.”
As Ireland’s first Lions’ scrumhalf since 1980, Murray is changing perceptions of Irish “nines”. By comparison scrumhalves in French rugby enjoy a more celebrated status akin to outhalves hereabouts, invariably taking the goal-kicks and generally running the show.
“I like the way they play. Obviously they have a lot of good nines – there’s a lot to choose from – but obviously they’ve gone with [Baptiste] Serin and [Maxime] Machenaud at the moment. They’ve got a good variety of nines, different nines, and it’s great to watch them play,” Marmion says.
“They’ve definitely got a good skill set. Their scrumhalves do a lot of the place-kicking. I think the nine they have at the moment [Serin], he’s definitely the same.
“He’s a skilful scrumhalf and they play through him and he can bring a lot to the table as well. He’s got a good all-round game. He’s lively and creates a lot out of nothing. He’s definitely someone we’ll have to keep an eye on and look out for this week.”
Attacking style
Marmion says Connacht are still looking for the same kind of momentum they generated for last season’s title-winning Pro12 run-in. However, he says they are not that far away and that the appointment of ex-Tasman head coach and current Waikato Chiefs attack coach Kieran Keane has been a welcome boost for the squad.
“I don’t know too much about him. He is an attacking coach with the Chiefs, so I guess that is great to build on what Pat [Lam] has brought to us. Connacht want to push forward with attacking rugby and playing a certain style so hopefully he can push us on again and keep us going from where Pat leaves us. We didn’t know he was over last weekend,” he says.
“It’s a good sign of continuity. They’ve gone for the attacking style which is what the players want, as a playing group we want to play attacking rugby. Lads are delighted, speaking to them so going forward it should be good.
“I spoke to Bundee Aki and he seems very positive about it. He hasn’t worked with him but he has obviously spoken to his mates over there in the Chiefs and he is excited about it as well.”
