Ireland were playing South Africa in last year’s autumn internationals. It was Ireland at their least Irish. The game was slow and it suited South Africa. It was Conor Murray’s 100th Test for his country but a groin injury brought his big day to a premature end.
It was the end in another way — the end of Murray’s dream of reclaiming the scrum-half starting berth from Jamison Gibson-Park. The 5ft 9in, 31-year-old dynamo hadn’t played since July, but Andy Farrell’s decision to throw his New Zealand-born No 9 straight back on to the bench and then in at the deep end worked wonderfully.
Suddenly there was tempo, a turbo injection as the Leinster scrum half shunted Ireland into overdrive from second gear. To some
