“I think they are class players and class is permanent” - Schmidt

Joe Schmidt is backing Conor Murray and Johnny Sexton to shake off the rust and to be the ‘competitive animals’ Ireland need to face down Scotland at Murrayfield.

Scrum-half Murray and fly-half Sexton are widely regarded as the best half-back pairing in world rugby but were well below par in Ireland's defeat to England in the opening round of the competition. Head coach Joe Schmidt had no hesitation retaining the pair for the Six Nations clash against Scotland.

Schmidt put the Murray-Sexton off day down to the Munster scrum-half’s late start to the season due to a neck injury and the World Player of the Year’s month out with a knee problem.

“I think they are class players and class is permanent,” Schmidt said at the team announcement. 

“Form can be temporary and coming back after not having played in a month, a player might be a bit rusty. A player who has had a longer lay-off and is getting back to their rhythm, he might be a bit rusty.

“So this period for us is super for them to build themselves back to where they need to be, and I think I said post the game that we’ve always tended to finish strongly in the championship and we’re going to have to, going away to Wales at the end of this.

“But whether we’ve been home or away, we’ve won our last game in the championship so I do think that we can build our way through this championship and I think those two guys, as a hub, will build themselves forward.

"I’ve chatted to both of them, mainly to offer them the same confidence that so many people have in them, including the players in the team, that they are outstanding contributors to our environment off the pitch, they are class players on the pitch and they are just the sort of competitive animal we need going to a hostile environment, which Murrayfield will be"

Via: The Irish Examiner