MIDWAY THROUGH THE first half of Munster’s win over Northampton at Thomond Park last weekend, BT Sport offered us jarring back-to-back shots.

First, there was Conor Murray seated alongside the Munster subs but not togged out, a windshield pulled up over his mouth and nose. Murray wasn’t injured, just not selected for a big Champions Cup game.

Next they flashed to Keith Earls in a bib on the touchline with an earpiece fitted for getting messages from the coaching staff that he could then relay to the players out on the pitch. Again, not injured, just not selected.

Murray and Earls have been first-choice starters for Munster for well over a decade which is what made it such a strange sight. Last weekend, head coach Graham Rowntree and his assistants made the call to leave both out of their matchday 23.

Rowntree was rewarded with good performances from wing pair Shane Daly and Calvin Nash, as well as from scrum-halves Craig Casey and Paddy Patterson.

Leaving Earls and Murray out was a tough decision. Attack coach Mike Prendergast said yesterday that it had been “up there with the hardest ones” they’ve had to make, pointing to the fact that Earls has 98 Ireland caps and Murray has 100. Both have been on Lions tours.

Prendergast said the two senior men had been excellent in response to their disappointment, stressed that they remain key figures in Munster, and hinted that they could be back for this weekend’s visit to Toulouse.

“They’re hugely important for us, massively important for us,” said Prendergast. “They reacted as I thought they would, they’re two incredibly professional guys that have been around the block and they’re incredibly helpful on the pitch and off the pitch in meetings.

“Nothing changed from them and that’s a credit to them because I know it wasn’t easy for them, especially with the Six Nations around the corner. As we have spoken about and Graham alluded to, that was for last week.

Murray alongside Jack O'Donoghue at Munster training. Bryan Keane / INPHO Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO

“Every week, we sit down and thoroughly go through how we’ll select our team on form and how we train. It was tough for them last week but this is a new week. They’ve been incredibly professional in terms of how they’ve applied themselves.”

The aforementioned Six Nations factor made things all the trickier for the Munster coaches. They want their players to be able to put their best foot forward and impress Ireland boss Andy Farrell.

Murray has remained a consistent presence in Ireland’s matchday 23 despite the rise of Jamison Gibson-Park to first-choice status and competition from Casey.

Earls, meanwhile, is highly respected and valued by Farrell, although he missed the autumn series last year due to injury.

But Prendergast underlined that Munster must be true to themselves in their decision-making around selection.

“We’ve got to pick what we feel is best for the weekend,” said Prendergast. “Looking at the Northampton game, that’s what we felt was best for the team. That’s our priority here as coaches for the club, for the team, and they’re really tough decisions to make.

“But that’s what we’re trying to build here, that bit of depth. Since the start of the year for different reasons, through injury and stuff, there has been a lot of young players and there’s still lads coming back from injuries. So you can see that depth coming into fruition. Also, it just keeps pressure on everybody whether you’re an international with 100 caps or you’re a Munster player with 10 caps.

“The way we train, it gives guys opportunity to show what they’re made of because everyone is involved, they’re all getting touches on the ball, we track everything through their GPS and how they’re going that way.

“That’s what we want – tough decisions. They’re the ones we have to make for the club.”

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