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Conor Murray knows what it is like to play for Rassie Erasmus, so he knows that South Africa’s director of rugby will be busy behind his smokescreen — galvanising the Springboks to take the fight back to the Lions.
The build-up to the second Test has been dominated by the man who guided the host nation to World Cup glory in 2019. Erasmus has been centre stage, with myriad claims of injustice and a social media onslaught against the tourists.
But Murray, 32, is well aware that, away from these distraction tactics, he will be plotting to undermine the British and Irish quest.
Conor Murray (left) believes Rassie Erasmus (right) will be galvanising the Springboks ahead of the second Test
Ireland’s scrum-half worked with Erasmus and his long-time sidekick Jacques Nienaber — now the Boks’ head coach — for a year when they took charge at Munster.
‘Like any coach after a defeat like that, he’s going to try to pick his squad up and emotionally fire them up again,’ he said. ‘He’ll have a definite plan of how they want to attack the game.
‘South African rugby pride themselves on physicality and we did quite well in that area, to withstand a lot of pressure. So will they be hurting from that? Will he be revving them up for that battle again? Probably.
‘Rassie is tough. He was a tough player and he expects toughness from his players. If physicality was missing or somebody shied away from it, they would be told. So we’re aware of what will come out of the tunnel on Saturday and we’ve got to meet it.
