Thursday 6 February 2020 19:20, UK
Johnny Sexton has defended his half-back partner Conor Murray amid questions surrounding his Ireland starting berth.
Ulster scrum-half John Cooney has been impressing for the northern province this season, leading for calls for his inclusion in the Ireland starting team at the expense of Murray.
Nonetheless Andy Farrell is sticking with Murray, who is set to start alongside Sexton for a record 58th Test game on Saturday when Wales come to Dublin.
The Munster scrum-half is yet hit his own lofty heights this season, and his characteristic sniping runs from the base of rucks haven't been as visible in recent times.
However, Sexton went to bat for his half-back partner when asked about Murray's form.
"I thought Conor had a good game last week," said the Irish captain.
"When those opportunities present themselves, or if they present themselves, I'm sure he'll be ready to go. But I don't think they did last week. Some of that was the speed of ball. We were playing a lot of unstructured play.
"Conor has scope to go and snipe. But [in] international rugby, it doesn't always open up. It's not like provincial rugby or even some Heineken Cup games. It's proper Test match rugby. Last week was a proper Test match.
"The biggest problem for Conor is he's had those games where he's ripped up, [like against] the All Blacks in Chicago, but then you become a marked man. Then sometimes the space isn't there.
"It's not as simple as 'why didn't that work? He didn't do it this game.' He's played well. I watched his game against the Ospreys, he played well. He played really well last week. I'm sure he'll play well again this week."
The biggest problem for Conor is he's had those games where he's ripped up...but then you become a marked man.
Another criticism of this Irish team raised by commentators this season is their lack of go-forward ball, with carriers receiving passes while standing still.
However, the fly-half stressed the importance of patience, rather than charging into contact for the sake of it.
"When you get slow ball off bad set-piece, you can't run onto the ball into a brick wall," he noted. "So we did some really good things at times when we were moving onto the ball. We hope to get more front-foot ball this week. We might not. We won't try and force things if we're not, because we know what we're meant to do against slow ball, when you've got a full defence against you. It's not as easy as that."
Ireland welcome Wales to the Aviva Stadium on Saturday afternoon with a point to prove, after last year's 25-7 defeat in the final round of the Six Nations.
"They were going for a Grand Slam, we were going for a championship. We got well beaten out the gate," lamented Sexton, recounting last year's tie. "It was a very disappointing day.
"Anytime you lose for Ireland, it never leaves you. You think about it a lot and that was one of those days."
However, there has been a seismic shift in Welsh rugby in the interim, with Warren Gatland departing and Wayne Pivac taking the reins.
"[It's] new isn't it? Playing against team coached by someone different," mused the 34-year-old. "We're so used to playing teams coached by Warren and his way of playing caused us big problems.
"Now a new coach coming in, you can see already some of the ideas they have. We've played against [Pivac] when he coached Scarlets, so we know at times we struggled against that style of play. Leinster, for example in the [PRO12] semi-final lost to them. Munster lost to them, so I'm sure they'll be talking about that. We'll have to be ready for that style of play."
And he knows through experience that they'll get nothing easy against the reigning champions:
"They're a great nation, proud nation and no one wants to take a backward step."
