Who is Conor Murray: Ten things you should know about the Ireland scrum-half

Conor Murray made his debut for Ireland in 2011 against France and he has since accumulated more than 90 caps for his country. Here are some facts about the scrum-half that you may not know…

Ten things you should know about Conor Murray

1. Conor Murray, full name Gerard Conor Murray, was born 20 April 1989 in Limerick, Ireland. He stands at 6ft 2in (1.88m) and weighs 14st 6lb (93kg).

2. He has played for Munster throughout his senior career and won the 2011 Pro14 title with the club.

3. Murray has won three Six Nations titles, in 2014, 2015 and 2018. The 2018 tournament ended with Ireland winning the Grand Slam and Murray was nominated for Player of the Tournament but was pipped to the award by team-mate Jacob Stockdale.

4. He was selected for the 2013 and 2017 British & Irish Lions tours to Australia and New Zealand respectively. Murray was capped in both tours as the Lions won the 2013 series in Australia and drew with New Zealand in 2017. He has also been picked in the Lions 2021 squad.

5. Murray was part of the first Ireland men’s team to beat New Zealand, scoring a try in the 40-29 victory in Chicago in 2016, but he missed the first win over the All Blacks on Irish soil in 2018 with a neck injury.

6. Murray was profoundly affected by the death of Munster coach Anthony Foley and he has said he remains inspired by him.

He told The Guardian in 2016: “When death happens you can usually process it. But with Axel (Foley) I feel he should be here. For a couple of weeks there was so much attention on his death and an outpouring of sympathy.

“It was beautiful. But now everyone is carrying on – which is strange but natural. Axel would want us to carry on. He continues to inspire us.”

Does Conor Murray have a girlfriend?

7. He is in a long-term relationship with model Joanna Cooper.

8. Murray has a cavapoo dog which he and his partner have called Kevin.

9. He has said he struggled when the first lockdown for Covid-19 meant rugby was suspended as he no longer had his regular routine.

He told Hot Press: “I need to be moving all the time, and it’s really important for me to have a routine and a schedule to stick to – to be able to get out of bed knowing what I’m going to do for the day.

“Rugby takes up so much of that usually, so I was really trying to fill that space with everything: my sourdough starter, training, cooking, cutting the grass, watering the flowers. The house has never looked so good!”

10. Murray played Gaelic football for Patrickswell and Limerick before becoming a professional rugby player.

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