Conor Murray calls for British and Irish Lions to ‘obliterate’ Wallabies in stark warning over Joe Schmidt’s influence
Wallabies head coach Joe Schmidt and an inset of British and Irish Lions great Conor Murray.
Ahead of the series opener between the Wallabies and British and Irish Lions, Conor Murray has offered advice to the tourists to avoid a closely fought series.
Andy Farrell’s charges head into the clash in Brisbane as favourites with the bookmakers, but the three-time tourist warns that his former Ireland boss Joe Schmidt will have ploys for the Wallabies to unpick the Lions’ defence.
“We could never figure out Joe Schmidt”
Schmidt is renowned for his eye for detail and overflowing trick book on moves, particularly from lineouts, and Murray highlighted several examples during his time in charge of Ireland and another against the men in green during his time with All Blacks.
“At Munster, we could never figure out Joe Schmidt’s Leinster,” Murray wrote in his Irish Times column.
“The breakdown never went our way and we needed the Monday morning video session to understand how Leinster had opened us up. You’d see it at every other ruck – one of their players would deliberately “clean long”, thereby taking out a defender.
He added: “The mistake most teams made at this juncture was to expect Schmidt’s players to repeat what worked the previous week. Never assume anything when playing against a side coached by Joe.”
While Schmidt has been coaching at the highest level for a long while now, he has not exhausted his playbook, according to the ex-Munster nine who expects his former boss to throw something never seen before at the men in red.
“At a crucial moment during this Lions Test series in Australia, I guarantee that we will see something from the Wallabies attack that a Schmidt team has not previously executed,” he continued.
“In Joe’s head, rugby is a chess match. It is about everyone executing the tiny details. It was a relief going into Irish camp under him in 2013. The Munster, Ulster and Connacht lads had suffered enough.”
Beware of the four-man lineout
Murray likened Schmidt’s set moves to an NFL playbook with every player’s movement mapped out and he warns that if the Wallabies set-up a short lineout, the Lions should expect the worst.
He pointed to Will Jordan’s try in the Rugby World Cup quarter-final as an example of the threat with Richie Mo’unga darting through the Ireland defence before sending his winger over the line.
“The four-man lineout looked familiar,” he wrote.
“Never assume anything. Will Jordan’s try was a twist on what Ireland had produced in the past. It was a system error by our defence but Joe’s fingerprints were all over that Mo’unga line break at first receiver, direct from the lineout.
“That night, the All Blacks frustrated the hell out of us. We were Munster against Leinster all over again as they scored two tries off first-phase attacks while we had to work incredibly hard for every point.
“The Wallabies and Joe would like nothing more than to drag the Lions into a similar, energy-sapping scenario. If the Lions are forced to commit more than two players to successive breakdowns, we have ourselves a serious contest.”
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Crucial to these tactics during Schmidt’s time as Ireland head coach was the presence of Johnny Sexton at fly-half, with Murray describing the legendary playmaker as ‘Joe’s mind-in-motion on the pitch’.
This is where Australia are lacking, though in the former half-back’s view, the Wallabies possibly struggle for that on-field general.
While Noah Lolesio’s injury is a major blow, Murray did pinpoint a real weapon that the Wallabies do have at their disposal.
“What they do have is Joseph Suaalii. This Rugby League superstar is a cross between Israel Folau and Sonny Bill Williams. Against England last November, he repeatedly soared over Maro Itoje to win back Aussie restarts. Itoje was being lifted by his props,” he added.
But the biggest advice Murray had for Farrell and his team was to do their best to make Schmidt’s playbook irrelevant.
“One way to avoid a close series is for the Lions to obliterate the Wallaby pack from kick-off. Gain a foothold in their 22 and let Dan Sheehan pilot tries off the driving maul. Take the coach out of the game,” he concluded.
READ MORE: Stuart Barnes: The ‘ace up’ Joe Schmidt’s sleeve that will ‘scare the unproven Lions’
