Conor Murray says he's confident if he has to step up to the kicking tee again for Ireland, having nailed a crucial late penalty for Ireland against Wales in the last round of the Six Nations.
With Ireland leading Warren Gatland's side 27-20 late on, a number of knocks to fly-half Johnny Sexton meant that the Munster scrum-half was asked to step up turn the game into one of the two score variety. He did so, slicing the ball off the post and over, and spoke about his kicking when quizzed during the media day at Carton House today.
"Yeah it's ok. More so this season probably the opportunities or the situations for me to kick have come up. It's something I've done as a young player and probably in the early days at Munster I took my eye off it a little bit to concentrate on other things, but if the opportunity comes up, to have that in your back pocket or the chance to slot one over is always a good thing".
When asked whether he felt the pressure when stood over the tee, Murray admitted there were some nerves because of the importance of the kick, but noted that all the work he'd done with kicking coach Richie Murphy as a well to draw from when it came time to calming himself before executing the penalty.
"A little bit, yeah. The situations I've kicked this season, there's been a bit of pressure on and when it comes off it's enjoyable. I've been working with Richie Murphy over the last little while just to have a solid technique to go to and try focus on that rather than the situation or the crowd or whatever is really important, and it's been good lately".
While Murray said there's yet to be any kicking competitions at training with Johnny Sexton, he's had a few practise sessions with Joey Carbery though they've usually gone in favour of the young fly-half.
"Not with Johnny, Johnny does his own thing. I think with Joey, maybe with Joey a few coffees are on the line after training, so I think I owe him a few at the moment".
"It's probably something that if these situations crop up I need to keep driving and keep practising".
Vodafone are Official sponsors of the Irish Rugby team. We all belong to the Team of Us.
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
