In 2007, Waylon Murray was arguably the best South African outside centre in the Super 14. Now he’s not even on the Springbok radar. What’s happened to one of the most promising young players in the land?

I’m not suggesting that Murray should have been in the Springbok squad named on Saturday. I’m merely trying to establish how a player goes from being amongst the southern hemisphere’s elite, to being in the international wilderness in the space of two years.

His selection wouldn’t have been meritorious, as he hasn’t scaled the heights he did in 2007 since returning from a lengthy injury lay-off earlier this year, and if that was the standard he needed to attain then to break into the squad, he should be playing better than that now given the increased competition for places.

That’s the ideal, although coach Peter de Villiers has lowered the bar through a couple of perplexing selections which suggested that form or game time wasn’t a primary criteria when deciding on the composition of his squad.

Murray has neither had the form nor game time to have justified his inclusion, but if De Villiers gambled on players who were yet to prove their aptitude at Super Rugby level, let alone on the international stage, why not take a proven performer, despite his lack of game time?

However, that’s a futile argument to have now. The more pertinent question is why have the Sharks’ coaching staff lost faith in Murray?

Keo.co.za’s information from an impeccable source is that before the Currie Cup semi-final they told Murray that his form was not good enough to warrant a starting berth, and that they felt he hadn’t recovered from injury.

Prior to that there had been tension building between the parties. The writing was on the wall for Murray when they started utilising him as a wing in late 2008. Admittedly, Springbok coach Peter de Villiers’ preference for Adi Jacobs at outside centre placed pressure on the Sharks’ coaching staff to run Jacobs regularly in that position, forcing Murray wide and ultimately out of the side. But it was shoddy treatment for a player who had been central to their charge to the Super 14 final just a year earlier.

It wouldn’t be the first time a key player was frozen out at the Sharks. Brad Barritt, who had formed a formidable midfield partnership with Murray in the aforementioned campaign, left for Saracens in late 2008. Barritt was liberal in his praise of the Sharks upon his departure, but privately he was known to be deeply frustrated at the fact that Jacobs was preferred to him for the Super 14 semi-final, this after a series of outstanding performances, not least of all a stellar effort against the Chiefs, which secured their play-off berth. Furthermore, it was made clear to Barritt that Frans Steyn would be preferred in the position in 2009.

The knee injury Murray had struggled with since the latter part of the 2008 season certainly didn’t aid his cause to re-establish himself as one of the premier 13s in South Africa, but neither did the sudden and inexplicable loss of faith from his coaching staff.

Murray has told me he hopes to represent the Springboks at the 2011 World Cup, but to realise that goal he has to be playing regularly, and his prospects in that regard are bleak at the Sharks.

His contract with the Durban franchise expires at the end of the Super 14, and already there has been strong interest in his services, particularly from the Bulls. If there aren’t already, there are sure to be European suitors expressing interest as word circulates that one of the country’s most gifted midfielders is on the market.

Murray isn’t closed to the idea of playing abroad at some stage of his career, but still has a strong desire to re-establish himself with the Sharks and force his way into the national reckoning by excelling for them. If he fails to do this, it would be in his, and the country’s best interests, that he gains regular game time at another South African franchise.

He cannot be allowed to cast in his lot with a European, Australian or, heaven forbid, Japanese franchise, effectively ruling him out of contention for Springbok selection.

A player doesn’t go from being world-class to bad in the space of two years. Murray is a wonderfully gifted player who must be invested in.

By Ryan Vrede

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 8:20 am and is filed under Springboks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.