A version of this article was published in the Irish Examiner on Saturday, December 14th 2013.

Munster head to Perpignan without Conor Murray, ruled out for six weeks with a medial ligament injury. Rob Penney will have to rely on Cathal Sheridan and Duncan Williams at scrum half until mid to late January – what will the impact be on the team?

Last week’s 36-8 scoreline was evidence of a rather sound beating and in some aspects Perpignan did not help themselves. Despite having far less active time of possession than Munster, Perpignan conceded 20 turnovers of which fully ten were dropped balls. It’s unlikely that Perpignan will be so profligate at the Stade Aimé Giral in front of a support that has seen them win 22 of their last 23 home Heineken Cup matches.

The second half last Sunday afternoon was a tackle-fest. Rather than seek space Munster too many times seemed to choose contact instead and the French side, 22 points down at half time with not a point to their name, were forced to make an enormous 115 tackles in that second 40 minutes. Flanker Sean Dougall led Munster with 13 tackles on the day; for perspective the enormous Sebastien Vahaamahina had 12 tackles in just 28 minutes as a Perpignan substitute.

On home soil Perpignan will not go so quietly into the night and Munster will need a canny, physical performance, something that would have been made for Conor Murray. Murray is a large man for a scrum half, listed at 6’2” and 94kg. Sheridan and Williams are fashioned in the mould of a more traditionally-shaped number nine, both standing 5’9” and tipping the scales at 83kg and 80kg respectively. Of the three, Sheridan is more of a passer with the others far more likely to make a break. All three put up similar numbers of kicks per game.

Viewing the three through Opta’s stats the biggest difference between the three Munster scrum halves this season has been Murray’s defence. While his two colleagues have made 6.4 tackle attempts per 80 minutes play, Murray’s figure is over 50 % better. His 37 tackle attempts in 283 minutes of club play this season works out at an impressive 10.5 per 80. While his 84% success rate in the tackle is a hair below the other two, it’s more than made up for by the number of times he gets to the tackle in the first place. The Lions scrum half has also forced four turnovers compared to just one by Sheridan and Williams combined in their 678 Rabodirect Pro 12 and Heineken Cup minutes. Forcing turnovers might not be the first thing one looks for in a scrum half but it’s a nice little bonus.

Munster go into the second of their games against Perpignan knowing that they’ll be without a strong defensive performer. While the surprise return of Donnacha Ryan will help in this regard, in Murray’s absence and with Cathal Sheridan starting it would be helpful to Munster’s defensive cause if Sean Dougall were to turn in a repeat performance.

Stats Credit: playing stats courtesy of Opta