IF CONNACHT ARE to continue their promising start to the URC season with a win against the Scarlets in Llanelli tonight [KO 7.35pm, TG4/Premier Sports], there’s a good chance Josh Murphy will be key.

The 29-year-old has had a venomous impact in the first two games of the campaign, having returned from a year-long sabbatical during which he took on an internship at a Dublin hospital.

Murphy played in the All-Ireland League with Clontarf last season and while that’s a high standard of rugby, Connacht might have wondered if the aggressive blindside flanker/lock would take a while to get back up to professional speed. 

That hasn’t been the case, with Murphy stamping his physicality and energy all over their game from the opening stages of the season away to Munster.

This was his first tackle back in URC action.

The intent is clear from Murphy as he races up and hits Fineen Wychereley, sliding down to his ankles to complete the tackle for a small gainline win before bouncing up onto his feet and into the defensive line.

Murphy never really let up from there. A few minutes later, he was driving Gavin Coombes backwards in a big tackle.

There are lots of options outside Munster fullback Mike Haley before he passes and we can see Murphy assessing the situation as he advances. But once Murphy reads that the ball is going to Coombes in the middle of the pod of Munster forwards, he is decisive.

Coombes has centre Tom Farrell swinging behind to accept a possible sweep pass but Murphy is so assertive in closing him down that there’s no chance to get the ball away. Murphy dominates the collision and Connacht should probably win a turnover off the back of his big shot.

Murphy is the kind of defender who consistently delivers gainline wins, whether it’s a few inches when Connacht are in the trenches or with spectacular tackles like the one on Coombes.

He also scrambles well when they’re in trouble, as he demonstrates below when a Munster try looks almost certain.

Farrell has made a big linebreak to within a metre of the Munster line and scrum-half Craig Casey tries to finish with a snipe, only for Murphy to stop him with an excellent tryline tackle. Connacht survive the attack.

Murphy’s defensive appetite is infectious. We often see him delivering a big tackle and others follow from team-mates in the subsequent phases. But Murphy himself is also excellent at backing up positive impacts with another soon after. 

In the instance below, Sharks centre André Esteruizen beats the initial tackle attempt from Finlay Bealham, with Murphy plugging the space back on the inside.

Murphy rides the clearout attempt from Sharks lock Jason Jenkins as he’s completing the tackle, fighting hard to stay on his feet.

“Release six,” the referee roars at Murphy, who is dissuaded from attempting to poach the ball, but his fight means he’s in the space over the ball, a worry for Sharks scrum-half Bradley Davids.

As we see below, Jenkins gets off the ground from his initial failed clearout effort and has another go from the side to deal with Murphy.

Connacht don’t get a penalty but Murphy’s scrapping effort has made the Sharks’ ball slow and they lose the gainline on the next phase, Connacht having had plenty of time to ready themselves.

It’s Denis Buckley and David O’Connor who fly up to dominate number eight Emmanuel Tshituka.

And on the next phase, Murphy has another positive impact as he bursts out of the blocks to ground Sharks tighthead Ruan Dreyer behind the gainline.

The Sharks have to kick the ball away on the next phase.

Murphy’s aggressive streak is evident in his ball-carrying too.

6ft 6ins, 110kg Murphy is well able to mix it in the tight exchanges. In the instance below, he ekes out a bit of progress for Connacht, aided by a Jack Auniger latch.

As we saw earlier in the Coombes incident, carrying off first receiver can be an unglamorous task given that good defensive linespeed can leave you open to being smashed.

But Murphy does a superb job in the example below as he dents the Munster defence when carrying off out-half Josh Ioane.

Murphy beats Munster lock Jean Kleyn and thunders into hooker Niall Scannell and flanker Ruadhán Quinn.

It might not seem like the most spectacular carry but the damage it does is more obvious on the next phase, with Murphy’s carry and clean ball presentation allowing Connacht to attack with lightning-quick ball against a defence that’s not in ideal shape.

Munster’s defenders have to go back downfield around the breakdown to fold to the other side and that leaves them exposed. Connacht halfbacks Ben Murphy and Ioane take full advantage, scorching through to combine for a superb try.

The halfbacks get the headlines but Murphy’s work is just as important.

As well as being happy to run into brick walls closer to the ruck, Murphy is also comfortable in more space. He is flexible enough to fill different roles in Connacht’s attacking framework, including holding width out in the 15-metre channels.

This role allows Murphy to use his power, particularly when he gets one-on-one with smaller backs.

Murphy’s enjoyment of the physical side of the game extends to the breakdown, where he generally brings accuracy and edge.

As we saw above, Connacht’s attack can do real damage when they have quick, clean ball and forwards like Murphy are crucial in ensuring they get it.

Below, Murphy does a good job of clearing Coombes away after a tackle. Watch how Murphy approaches from a side angle but squares up at the last second to make sure his entry into the breakdown is legal.

On the other side of the ball, Murphy is well capable of making jackal turnovers despite his height.

We got a good example in the win over the Sharks last weekend as Murphy made a clean steal.

It does appear that Murphy’s left hand is briefly on the ground here, supporting his body weight, but he quickly gets onto the ball and the referee sees a good picture.

Murphy would also probably argue that he was cleared out from the side at the preceding breakdown and these things tend to even out over the course of a game. 

We haven’t seen much of Murphy’s handling skills so far this season but we know that Connacht expect their forwards to be able to play short tip-on and sweep passes, so it’s something he has in his locker.

The other advantage of having Murphy in your team is his lineout prowess. He started lots of games in the second row during his first season with Connacht and his set-piece skills are a big plus in picking him at blindside flanker.

Lineout leaders love having a player like Murphy in the back row, meaning another top-end jumping option so the opposition defence has several lineout threats to worry about.

For Connacht’s first maul try last weekend, Murphy was the back lifter on lock Niall Murray. Watch below as Murphy [number 6] lifts and then does an excellent job of bracing at the front of the maul, not allowing the Sharks to splinter through and giving Connacht a strong front edge from where they can work the score.

Murphy was the back lifter on O’Connor for Connacht’s second maul try and performs a similar role, although some match officials might have felt Murphy was guilty of ‘double banking’ here, positioning himself in front of O’Connor to obstruct the Sharks.

It’s not called in this instance and Connacht get another maul score on a good day for their pack.

Whatever about his impact in contact around the pitch, Murphy’s ability in the lineout and maul is a key reason why forwards coach John Muldoon will be so happy to have him back this season.

Muldoon is far from the only Connacht man happy to have Murphy on board. The Scarlets might not be thrilled to see him this evening.

Scarlets:

15. Ioan Nicholas
14. Tom Rogers
13. Johnny Williams
12. Eddie James
11. Blair Murray
10. Sam Costelow
9. Gareth Davies

1. Alec Hepburn
2. Ryan Elias
3. Henry Thomas
4. Sam Lousi
5. Max Douglas
6. Josh Macleod (captain)
7. Dan Davis
8. Taine Plumtree

Replacements:

16. Marnus van der Merwe
17. Kemsley Mathias
18. Sam Wainwright
19. Alex Craig
20. Carwyn Tuipulotu
21. Efan Jones
22. Ioan Lloyd
23. Macs Page

Connacht:

15. Santiago Cordero
14. Mack Hansen
13. Cathal Forde
12. Bundee Aki
11. Piers O’Conor
10. Jack Carty
9. Ben Murphy

1. Denis Buckley
2. Dave Heffernan
3. Finlay Bealham
4. Niall Murray
5. David O’Connor
6. Josh Murphy
7. Conor Oliver
8. Cian Prendergast (captain)

Replacements:

16. Dylan Tierney-Martin
17. Peter Dooley
18. Temi Lasisi
19. Oisín Dowling
20. Paul Boyle
21. Caolin Blade
22. David Hawkshaw
23. Shayne Bolton

Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen [SARU].