IF THE COMPETITION for wing spots in Ireland’s final World Cup squad is notably fierce, then the battle to grab one of the back row positions in Joe Schmidt’s 31-man group is not far behind.
Jordi Murphy, Jamie Heaslip, Sean O’Brien, Peter O’Mahony, Tommy O’Donnell, Chris Henry and Jack Conan are all in the extended training group, while Iain Henderson and Donnacha Ryan are both more than capable of playing on the blindside too.
The fact that Rhys Ruddock misses out with a broken arm hasn’t made the selection dilemma any easier for Schmidt, and Leinster man Murphy points out that the strength in depth makes his job of making the World Cup all the more difficult.
Even when someone goes down, someone else comes in,” said Murphy at Ireland’s training base in Carton House. “There is serious competition. There are some guys here that didn’t quite make it into the squad, the likes of Dominic Ryan, who would always be pushing as well.
“You just have to step it up another gear and keep competing. Obviously there are boys like Pete (O’Mahony) and Seanie (O’Brien) who are established players. You can’t give them any easy outs. Everyone is pushing each other so we can be the best team that we can.”
Murphy says he has been “doing a bit of everything” in terms of running in all three back row positions during pre-season training, a string to his bow that perhaps make him all the more attractive to Schmidt.
The 24-year-old jokes that his versatility does involve a “little bit of extra homework,” but says he’s happy to play anywhere as long Ireland pick him.
This week, which culminates in a Test against Wales at the Millennium, has brought an extra element of intensity to training at Carton House, according to Murphy. The nine-times capped Lansdowne man is keen to point out that the players are very much treating the game as they would any other international fixture.
Training has been just as intense as it would be during a Six Nations,” said Murphy.
“It’s still competitive and you are trying to win caps for your country. Every time you come in to international camp, whether it was before the Barbarians game where we only had two or three days, training was very intense, there was a good bit of competition.
“It was the same in the Six Nations as it has been for the past few weeks. When you come in here you are expected to give it 100% every single day.
“No matter whether it’s Monday or a Thursday just before a game, you are expected to bring your ‘A game’ every single time.”
Individual rewards beckon for the Irishmen who can stand out on Saturday in Cardiff, but for Murphy and his teammates the focus – as always – will be on the collective.
It’s our first game in a while and we are looking to be accurate, get our eye in; there are obviously going to be mistakes,” said Murphy. “It is one of those things that come when you haven’t played in a while. It about getting that bit of a gel together again.
“Obviously we are always going to look to win every single Test we play but I think we are going to look back at those things (in analysing the game) to see how we have gone as a team.”
