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'Keep him well away from it!' | O'Gara not fond of Murray at 10

Ronan O’Gara was on Friday’s OTB AM and joked that Conor Murray was too old to try to become ...



Rugby

'Keep him well away from it!' | O'Gara not fond of Murray at 10

Ronan O’Gara was on Friday’s OTB AM and joked that Conor Murray was too old to try to become a fly-half.

Munster are experiencing a bit of an injury crisis at fly-half with Tyler Bleyendaal the only available experienced No. 10 in the squad at the moment.

While Murray is a possible option should Bleyendaal need to be replaced, O’Gara was completely against shifting the scrum-half from his usual position.

“Rory Scannell I think would be a good 10. Keep Conor Murray away from it. Keep him well away from it!

“Ah, sure he did [play 10 when he was younger]. He’s a goal kicker as well. Don’t mind Conor he’s grand. Get him in there playing nine. He’s the best in the world at nine when he wants to be, so keep him in there.

“He’s just too fond of it. I think he wants to be a number 10. It’s too late at 30 to try, tell him.

“He was goal kicking in the World Cup as well, wasn’t he? Shaping up, chest out. Oh yeah, he’s very, very fond of himself. I like it,” O’Gara joked.

Should Munster have picked Ben Healy?

Munster have opted to go with Bleyendaal as the only specialist fly-half in their squad to face Ospreys in the Heineken Champions Cup on Saturday at 5.30pm, with young Ben Healy missing out.

However, before the team was announced, O’Gara stated he would like to see the youngster given a chance.

“If you have strong support from Ben Healy it could be the day to launch him. In terms of European Cup away games it’s Ospreys.

“They’re so used to them so I don’t think Munster are spooked by going there. But sometimes you’ve just got to launch these guys and throw them in.

“It’s dangerous throwing them in with other inexperienced players but he’s going to have CJ, Peter O’Mahony and Chris Farrell.

“They’re going to be the nucleus around him and Conor Murray obviously inside him. So for me obviously it seems that’s a great support network for a young 10,” O’Gara said.


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Champions Cup Conor Murray Munster Ronan O'Gara