IRELAND COACH JOE Schmidt expects Conor Murray to be fit for Ireland’s World Cup opener against Canada in two weeks’ time.
Murray was forced from the field in the 17th minute after the Munster number nine caught the trailing boot of Joe Marler when the England prop had broken through the Irish defence.
Murray was replaced after appearing to be knocked out. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Referee Nigel Owens immediately halted play as Murray was left prostrate on the Twickenham turf. Having been assessed by the Irish medical staff, Murray was replaced by Eoin Reddan and, after undergoing a head injury assessment, he did not return to the fray
However, Schmidt remains confident that his star scrum-half will be fit for the tournament opener.
“Conor’s good,” said the Kiwi.
“He went through all the head injury assessment successfully, but because he was knocked down, it was pertinent to leave him off the pitch – so he sat out (the rest of the game).
We were probably looking at giving him and Eoin Reddan about 40 minutes each anyway, so he’ll go through the return-to-play protocols which should see him fully fit for the start of the World Cup.
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“Any time that happens, it counts as a concussion so, that’s the way we’ll follow the return-to-play protocols.
“I think it’s been a long time since he had one (concussion). I think the severity was that… I don’t know if you saw him coming off the pitch but he was fine. I think one of the good things in the modern game is he’s removed from the pitch and stays off the pitch. I think going back 10 or 15 years, he probably would have just played on.”
Schmidt also expects Jonathan Sexton and Simon Zebo to be available for selection after the pair were substituted in the latter stages of the 21-13 defeat.
Sexton and Zebo with ice on their calves post-game. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Sexton was replaced by Ian Madigan in the 66th minute after the Leinster out-half pulled up following a clearance to touch, while Schmidt was forced to replace Zebo with Tadhg Furlong four minutes later, leading to an extensive re-shuffle as Chris Henry moved out to the wing.
“Johnny and Simon both came off and were replaced because they were cramping up,” Schmidt explained.
“I guess, if it had been a different time and a different Test match not prior to a World Cup, then they may have stayed on and we have taken a risk with them but there is an increased risk that they will do a bit of a big of muscle injury if they are cramping up so we decided to get them off.
It wasn’t ideal, obviously, I think we ended up with Chris Henry on the wing, Ian Madigan at full back for a while and then it just meant it was pretty awkward to make those replacements. For the second week in a row, we just ended up with guys out of position.”
Stung from their poor display in Paris a fortnight ago, Stuart Lancaster’s side began the game at a furious pace that caught the visitors off-guard.
Jonny May and Anthony Watson both pounced for tries with less than 15 minutes on the clock and it could have been worse but for Tom Youngs’ final pass to the lightning-quick May going forward following another flowing English attack in the opening quarter.
The sheer physicality and size of the English will remind Schmidt’s side of the sheer scale of the challenge ahead of them at this World Cup with a monstrous French team awaiting them in the final round of Pool D.
Sexton shakes hands with England's George Ford. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
“We wouldn’t be the biggest team,” Schmidt admitted.
“We kind of have to dance around a bit to stay in the fight sometimes and we couldn’t get access to the ball in the first 25 minutes pretty much. We couldn’t get field possession. I think we snuck into their half one time and managed to kick a goal and, apart from that, they really had us under the hammer.
They went through long periods of possession. I think it was probably our scrum that allowed us to hang in there in the first 25 minutes; we got a little bit of purchase a couple of times and probably wasted opportunities
“We lost a five-metre lineout and turned a ball over just before half-time about five or six metres out from the line. Those are times that you can’t really afford to turn the ball over, but, in the context of being 12-3 down at half-time, and then with 15 minutes to go, we’re 15-13 down, it does probably reflect a little bit of the spirit in the side.
“They fought their way back into contention. We had to make a few late changes and that probably didn’t help and you can’t afford to allow teams of the quality of England to start to open you up again.”
Schmidt says Murray, Zebo and Sexton will all be fit for the World Cup
IRELAND COACH JOE Schmidt expects Conor Murray to be fit for Ireland’s World Cup opener against Canada in two weeks’ time.
Murray was forced from the field in the 17th minute after the Munster number nine caught the trailing boot of Joe Marler when the England prop had broken through the Irish defence.
Referee Nigel Owens immediately halted play as Murray was left prostrate on the Twickenham turf. Having been assessed by the Irish medical staff, Murray was replaced by Eoin Reddan and, after undergoing a head injury assessment, he did not return to the fray
However, Schmidt remains confident that his star scrum-half will be fit for the tournament opener.
“Conor’s good,” said the Kiwi.
“He went through all the head injury assessment successfully, but because he was knocked down, it was pertinent to leave him off the pitch – so he sat out (the rest of the game).
“Any time that happens, it counts as a concussion so, that’s the way we’ll follow the return-to-play protocols.
“I think it’s been a long time since he had one (concussion). I think the severity was that… I don’t know if you saw him coming off the pitch but he was fine. I think one of the good things in the modern game is he’s removed from the pitch and stays off the pitch. I think going back 10 or 15 years, he probably would have just played on.”
Schmidt also expects Jonathan Sexton and Simon Zebo to be available for selection after the pair were substituted in the latter stages of the 21-13 defeat.
Sexton was replaced by Ian Madigan in the 66th minute after the Leinster out-half pulled up following a clearance to touch, while Schmidt was forced to replace Zebo with Tadhg Furlong four minutes later, leading to an extensive re-shuffle as Chris Henry moved out to the wing.
“Johnny and Simon both came off and were replaced because they were cramping up,” Schmidt explained.
“I guess, if it had been a different time and a different Test match not prior to a World Cup, then they may have stayed on and we have taken a risk with them but there is an increased risk that they will do a bit of a big of muscle injury if they are cramping up so we decided to get them off.
Stung from their poor display in Paris a fortnight ago, Stuart Lancaster’s side began the game at a furious pace that caught the visitors off-guard.
Jonny May and Anthony Watson both pounced for tries with less than 15 minutes on the clock and it could have been worse but for Tom Youngs’ final pass to the lightning-quick May going forward following another flowing English attack in the opening quarter.
The sheer physicality and size of the English will remind Schmidt’s side of the sheer scale of the challenge ahead of them at this World Cup with a monstrous French team awaiting them in the final round of Pool D.
“We wouldn’t be the biggest team,” Schmidt admitted.
“We kind of have to dance around a bit to stay in the fight sometimes and we couldn’t get access to the ball in the first 25 minutes pretty much. We couldn’t get field possession. I think we snuck into their half one time and managed to kick a goal and, apart from that, they really had us under the hammer.
“We lost a five-metre lineout and turned a ball over just before half-time about five or six metres out from the line. Those are times that you can’t really afford to turn the ball over, but, in the context of being 12-3 down at half-time, and then with 15 minutes to go, we’re 15-13 down, it does probably reflect a little bit of the spirit in the side.
“They fought their way back into contention. We had to make a few late changes and that probably didn’t help and you can’t afford to allow teams of the quality of England to start to open you up again.”
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Injury Concerns Ireland rwc 15 England Warm-up World Cup