The lack of solid news about Conor Murray’s injury is the most worrying part of all.
It has been 42 days since the Munster scrum-half got his arm caught beneath a hefty Welshman and let out a yell we could hear 10 rows back in the Principality Stadium. The replays made it look even worse.
Treatment for Murray before he carries on #WALvIRE pic.twitter.com/SFU9cqOqZ1
— Pat McCarry (@patmccarry) March 10, 2017
It was miraculous that he finished out the final 10 minutes of the first half. He was verging on sainthood when he appeared for the second half. The gamble back-fired though – and the sainthood stalled – when he clearly had no power in his injured left arm.
It cost Ireland dearly and the Welsh left them with a mountain to climb by the time sense was seen and Kieran Marmion summoned to the fray. Post-match, Joe Schmidt us of the half-time chat that resulted in Murray going back out there. He said:
“We said ‘try it, see how it goes’, he felt he could have probably played on, but his passing wasn’t as good as it usually was, it was 15-20% off so we wanted to get Marmion on.”
Six weeks later and that power has not returned.
Murray was at Carton House on March 16, six days after he injured his arm, and was dressed in his civvies. Surrounded by members of the Irish team, all in their IRFU gear, he looked relaxed. Gutted to miss the England game, no doubt, but time has moved on. Still, they’re no closer to finding an answer to why the power has not returned to Murray’s arm.
Big games have passed – Toulouse in Europe, Ulster in the PRO12 – and he misses Saturday’s visit of a daunting Saracens side to the Aviva Stadium. A place at the Champions Cup final awaits but Murray will sit it out.
All signs of the relaxed, joking Murray from Carton House had long since passed as he watched Munster edge past Ulster from the stands, last week. He is as fit as he can possibly be but his left arm is still hanging heavily. A constant reminder.
Ask him if he’ll be right and you get an optimistic answer but his eyes betray the words. He wishes he could say for sure. Give you a date, a game.
While Rassie Erasmus has been careful not to speculate on what is up with Murray, Lions coach Warren Gatland was as blunt as ever.
“[The injury] is causing him a bit of discomfort and a bit of weakness in his arm, and hopefully he’s going to be right in a couple of weeks – the neurologist is confident he’s going to be okay.
“He’s had some disc problems in the past, but that’s not what’s causing the issue. It’s some nerve problem that he’s got.”
The hope right now is that there could be a trapped nerve and that time, and gentle persuasion, will see the problem correct itself.
The only issue is one that will stop for no-one – time.
If Munster get past Saracens, the Champions Cup final is three weeks away. The Lions gather in five weeks and set off for New Zealand soon after.
Right now, Murray would love someone to tell him exactly what’s wrong.
The fact that nobody can give him a concrete answer is the most worrying part of all.
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