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Cadan Murley returns to the scene of his hit-and-miss Test debut for England back in February, as Harlequins attempt to put last year’s Round of 16 Champions Cup mauling by Leinster to bed at the Aviva Stadium.
Murley missed the 62-0 defeat at Croke Park in April because of the foot injury he sustained in his first senior international appearance, and insists what happened last year is firmly in the past.
“I wasn’t quite match fit and I wasn’t selected, so I don’t have the same pain that I am sure a lot of the boys felt last year. But we aren’t focusing on what happened last year,” said the 26-year-old winger.
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“You look at their results in the URC – three wins, three losses, and they have been nilled. So there are opportiunities. They will have all their internationals back, but it is hard to reintegrate after being away for a four-five week period in the Autumn.”
Murley felt the same issue was to blame for Harlequins’ error-strewn defeat at Gloucester last weekend, which left them languishing in eighth place in the PREM table.
“It was a frustrating result down there but, saying that, there are a lot of easy fixes, with the amount of unforced errors and the rustiness. We only trained twice together as a team going into it. It seems to be a theme that we struggle off the back of internationals coming into that first game back.”
While Quins have chosen to rest England trio, Marcus Smith, Fin Baxter and Chandler Cunningham-South, Leinster are bolstered by their Irish contingent, although James Lowe, who’d ordinarily have been Murley’s direct opponent, is missing.
The sight of Caelan Doris, Josh van der Flier, Dan Sheehan, Jamison Gibson-Park and Garry Ringrose et al, will remind Murley of eventful England debut, which featured a try, but also a couple of defensive lapses that contributed to the 27-22 defeat to Ireland. Murley also picked up a foot injury which sidelined him for the remainder of the Six Nations.
“It is a cool stadium, the Aviva, and a cool environment to play in. I got over the whitewash, but we didn’t get the result. I will relish playing against that calibre of player, those Ireland internationals.”
However, Murley insists Quins won’t be giving too much respect to the reputation of the four-time champions.
“You don’t want to put too much of an emphasis on it, you don’t want to big it up too much for them to be this unbeateable team, that we can’t go over there and do a job,” he said.
“I remember reading an article before we went over to Bordeaux (in April 2024), and everyone said they haven’t lost at home for however long it was, and there’s no way Quins are going to be able to do this, and we went over and did it.
“It is rising to the challenge, You look at Garry Ringrose, for Oscar Beard he is probably someone who he has looked up to, and to go toe-to-toe with him is so exciting.
“The mantra we have used in Europe before is ‘swing the bat’,” added Murley.
“You can’t go to these teams, especially the likes of Leinster, and expect to bully them and impose your physicality necessarily.
“You have got to be brave, you have got to pull the chances, you’ve got to throw that pass if it’s a 60-40, you have got to be brave in these situations, that’s the mindset we have tried to impose all week and we’re trying to bring to this game.”
Meanwhile, a report in the I newspaper suggested a Hybrid game of rugby union and rugby league was being lined up next year between England RU and England RL. England RL have reportedly been offered £1.5 million by the Aussie organisers to play the fixture.
The idea was first mooted 11 years ago, by former Wallabies boss Bob Dwyer, but nothing came to fruition, and it is hard to see how England’s rugby union team would fit such an exhibition match into their schedule, given the Nations Championship starts in 2026, even if they were prepared to play.
Even so, avid rugby league watcher Murley would love the opportunity to show what he could do in the northern code.
“Why not? It would grow the game from both sides, it would get fans from both sides into the sports. We’d have to touch up on the rules and what the laws would be around that, but it is always good to challenge yourself against other environments and other sporting teams, so don’t see why not, it is not too different.”
Murley has never played league in his life but his interest was piqued when Sean Long was attack coach at Quins.
“He’s a legend. I still keep in contact with him now. He brought so much to us and helped us so much in that period before we won the league, just picking his brains on lines of running. Because in league it is so different, everything is so structured, you can almost pre-empt what you are going to run, but it is also so clever, so intricate. He had a great influence on me.
“Longy always said he would like to have me as a winger, a little small carrier, coming off nine, like a lot of their wingers, and then they just stand out and finish on the edge. It sounds like a really good gig being a rugby league winger. It is definitely something I’d be keen for.”
Harlequins: 15. Cameron Anderson, 14. Cassius Cleaves, 13. Oscar Beard, 12. Luke Northmore, 11. Cadan Murley (c), 10. Jarrod Evans, 9. Will Porter, 1. Boris Wenger, 2. Jack Walker, 3. Harry Williams, 4. Kieran Treadwell, 5. Stephan Lewies, 6. Zach Carr, 7. Will Evans, 8. Tom Lawday
Replacements: 16. George Turner, 17. Will Hobson, 18. Pedro Delgado, 19. Joe Launchbury, 20. Lucas Schmid, 21. Lucas Friday, 22. Jamie Benson, 23. Bryn Bradley
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