THE RECENT EVIDENCE suggests that this might not be a big question in Andy Farrell’s mind ahead of the first Test against the Springboks next weekend.
Craig Casey did start a game for Ireland against Italy in this year’s Six Nations, his fourth Test start, but it was Conor Murray who provided the back-up to Jamison Gibson-Park in the other four matches.
Murray wasn’t heavily used, playing only 10 minutes against each of France, Wales, and Scotland, as well as 30 minutes versus England when Gibson-Park had to move to the wing, but it reinforced what has been the longstanding pecking order.
At last year’s World Cup, Murray started the pool game against Tonga and was on the bench behind Gibson-Park in Ireland’s other four games. Casey’s tournament amounted to 25 minutes in that Tonga clash.
When Gibson-Park was injured at the start of last year’s Six Nations, it was Murray who started the big games, with Casey getting the number nine shirt only for the Italy fixture.
So even though Munster have preferred Casey to Murray as their starting scrum-half for most of this season, Ireland boss Farrell has continued to view the scrum-half depth chart differently.
It should be said that Murray has still played an influential role for Munster, often coming on for the final quarter of games. He started five matches for the province this season, including the impressive wins against the Lions and Bulls at altitude in South Africa. Murray also started last season’s URC final win over the Stormers in Cape Town.
Gibson-Park is missing for this tour of South Africa due to the hamstring injury he suffered in a brutal, questionable clearout during Leinster’s URC semi-final defeat to the Bulls, with Connacht man Caolin Blade drafted in as the third scrum-half for the trip.
30-year-old Blade has two Ireland caps to his name, both off the bench, so he is coming from a long way back in terms of fighting for Test minutes in South Africa. The Monivea man will obviously be making sure he’s ready if called upon, but it’s likely that Murray and Casey will be the two matchday scrum-halves.
Farrell has always respected Murray’s ability to bring a calm edge to proceedings for Ireland. The 35-year-old comes off his IRFU national contract this summer but the fact that Murray’s new Munster deal for next season has been topped up by the union shows that Farrell still sees him as part of the Ireland picture for 2024/25.
We don’t need to run through Murray’s CV again here but you don’t achieve as much as he has in his career without lots of class and an impressive degree of durability.
The Limerick man has had dips in form like any other player but the negative reviews of his performances are often overdone or unfair. As Farrell has said a few times, lots of people get sick of seeing players at the top level over an extended period and want “new fresh young rookies” to get a chance instead.
Murray took renewed online abuse in the wake of Ireland’s defeat to England in the Six Nations and Farrell had to defend him once again.
Given the scale of the pressure Ireland will face against the Springboks in Pretoria on 6 July, it would be no surprise if Murray is in the number nine shirt for Farrell’s side. The Ireland head coach has seen Murray in that kind of environment many times before.
The same isn’t true of Casey, who is surely desperate just to get the chance to show he can survive and thrive in such circumstances. Three of his four starts for Ireland have been against Italy, with the other against the US.
Casey has come off the bench against France and Australia but generally, his involvements have come in less high-profile Ireland games.
The Limerick man’s passing is a joy to watch when he’s at his best, speeding from ruck to ruck and cleanly delivering zippy passes. He showed excellent decision-making in Munster’s recent URC win over Ulster but then had to deal with the frustration of scrappy ball in the knock-out stages.
Casey is almost exactly 10 years younger than Murray, so time is on his side but he’s not a kid at the age of 25. He’s an ambitious player who wants to be starting games for his country as well as his province.
Casey is obviously going to be around longer into the future than Murray but that’s no guarantee of selection right now. Ireland are going all-out for victory in both Tests against the Springboks.
They always want to keep developing as a team but playing against a feral South African side in Pretoria is not the best time to switch from the usual focus of picking the team Farrell feels is best placed to earn the win.
Whatever way Farrell decides to use the Munster scrum-halves, it’s likely that Ireland will need both Murray and Casey to deliver a major impact in the matchday 23 if they’re to make history in South Africa.
