Advertisement
Conor Murray pictured today at the Marriott Hotel in Cardiff. Dan Sheridan/INPHO

Conor Murray plays down concussion concerns ahead of World Cup opener

The scrum-half was knocked out 12 days ago against England.

CONOR MURRAY IS โ€œfeeling great and ready to goโ€ following his concussion against England at Twickenham earlier this month.

The Munster scrum-half was knocked out in the 15th minute of the clash in London after he collided with a trailing boot from England prop Joe Marler.

Murray was replaced by Eoin Reddan and, after undergoing a head injury assessment, he did not return to the field.

Murray, however, has successfully come through the return-to-play protocols and has been named to start at half-back, alongside Jonathan Sexton, for Irelandโ€™s World Cup opener against Canada on Saturday.

โ€œI think I nicked just his calf. I tackled him from behind and one of his legs clipped me,โ€ said Murray on the incident during the 21-13 defeat.

โ€œIt was quite innocuous. I passed all my HIA tests on the sidelines. The replay showed I was still for three or four seconds so they said not to risk it. But I cleared all my return-to-play protocols and I feel great. Iโ€™ve trained fully all this week.

โ€œThe same thing happened when I got my last concussion against Australia [last November]. It was a replay that showed Quade Cooper; his knee hit my head. I felt fine to continue on but they said it was too much to risk.

โ€œSomeone said I had three [concussions] in the last year, but one of those was a bang on the neck. I had a concussion test and there was no concussion in that at all. The doctors have taken all the correct measures. I feel great and ready to go.โ€

Conor Murray Conor Murray being put through his paces during this afternoon's training session at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

The sight of Murray out cold on the Twickenham turf was worrying, with Joe Schmidt and the Irish management taking no chances with their prized asset.

โ€œEven at the time I had a fair idea I just got an unlucky bang and was pretty much okay straight afterwards,โ€ Murray added.

โ€œItโ€™s the precaution and you have to respect that, weโ€™re all educated in how serious concussion is nowadays and the spotlight thatโ€™s put on it, and I have no issue with coming off like that.

โ€œIt was the right call. If I had stayed on and got another bang it could have been a lot worse, so these measures are right and I think every player is aware [of that].โ€

Paul Oโ€™Connell: โ€˜We were like a bunch of guys going on a school tourโ€™

Schmidt hopeful Henshawโ€™s hamstring injury will heal before Romania

View 13 comments
Close
13 Comments
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.