‘We think we know what’s coming against the Springboks’ – Conor Murray

Veteran Ireland scrum-half Conor Murray is wary of the Springboks’ challenge at the upcoming Rugby World Cup in France and said his team’s excellent form will count for little at the global showpiece.

South Africa made a statement of intent when they cruised to a 35-7 victory over arch rivals New Zealand at Twickenham on Friday while Ireland sealed a hard-fought 17-13 win over Samoa in Bayonne on Saturday.

Murray worked with Springboks head coach Jacques Nienaber and his assistant Felix Jones at Munster and believes their knowledge of those coaches could help Ireland when they take on South Africa in a highly anticipated Pool B clash in Paris on September 23.

Familiar with the Springbok coaches

“We know what they’re like,” he said of South Africa. “You could say New Zealand were poor but I thought South Africa put them under so much pressure it made them make mistakes.

“A lot of us have been coached by Jacques and Felix and we know what’s coming. Well, we think we know what’s coming, Jacques is always going to pull something out of nothing and something you didn’t expect.

“We’ve been watching South Africa and everyone else for a long time. I’m sure they will feel really good about where they’re at because that was a really good New Zealand side and they made them look not so good.”

Ireland are heading into the World Cup sitting pretty atop World Rugby’s official rankings and head into the World Cup after winning their last 13 matches.

Murray is set to play in his fourth World Cup but is aware the tournament is a “different animal”.

“We’re in a pretty good place, given where we have been over the last two years and what we have achieved,” said the 34-year-old.

“We never get carried away with ourselves. We know going into every game that we have to respect the opposition.

“It (form) going into a World Cup doesn’t count for much. You have to bring your best rugby when you get to the tournament, when the competition kicks off for real.

“But we know how good the team can be. We also know how hard we have to work to get to that level and be there every week.

“The summer series was good and people got hit outs and we feel match fit now, but it’s a different animal by the time the World Cup comes around.

“We know where we can go as a group, the confidence is really high.”

Murray scored a crucial try as Ireland had to dig deep to beat Samoa in rainy conditions in south-west France.

Beneficial experience ahead of World Cup

He feels that experience will be beneficial moving forward, as World Cup hosts France are potential quarter-final opponents, if Ireland successfully negotiate a pool containing reigning world champions South Africa, Scotland, Tonga and Romania.

“Along that road we’re going to have games when things don’t go perfectly and we have to find a way,” he said.

“The World Cup could be like that and probably will be like that, it won’t go perfectly.

“There’s going to be nights like this (Samoa), the atmosphere was really hostile, in a good way, but we’re going to have to deal with that kind of thing as well.”

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