Cadan Murley reveals what shocked him most about step up to Test rugby

Having experienced his first taste of Test rugby in the opening round of the Guinness Six Nations against Ireland, England’s Cadan Murley now knows what to expect next time he is called up by Steve Borthwick.

With a handful of injuries in the back three, the Harlequin was called up for the trip to the Aviva Stadium- a rich reward for his work over the past year.

It is no secret that there is a step up from club rugby to Test rugby, but few can provide a more accurate insight into what that step up is like than one of the players who experienced it most recently.

When reflecting on his debut recently with Jim Hamilton on The Big Jim Show, the 25-year-old pinpointed the intensity of the contest as the biggest difference, as mistakes rarely go unpunished. Ireland’s 27-22 win in Dublin could not have been a better example of Murley’s description, as the game was ultimately decided by missed tackles by the visitors.

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“I wouldn’t necessarily say it was the speed, it was the intensity,” the newly capped wing said when analysing the difference between club and international rugby.

“Everyone is on it. In the Prem, there are little lapses and there’ll be little switch-offs. There’s no switch-off in international rugby.

“Everyone is so on it. It is so physical. Every collision – you miss one tackle, teams are that good they’ll go and score. There is so much pressure on every small moment. So I’d say that’s the difference between international and Prem.

“You miss a tackle in the Prem, they might butcher a chance. You miss a tackle in international rugby, they’ll go and score and that’s what happened in the Ireland game.

“The closest I’ve been to that was that semi-final against Toulouse last year. Even then, I think there’s that next level where from minute zero to minute 80, everyone is so on it and one little switch and they go the length and score.”

Murley’s debut was one that was described as “mixed” by Hamilton on the podcast. It was bookended by a try in the opening minutes of the match and an assist towards the end, but some errors in between that proved costly (although one attempt to run the ball out from the in-goal area was due to a slight touch that many had not noticed).

The winger was not afraid to address those errors when talking to Hamilton, describing his debut as “highs and lows”.

“Hindsight’s 20-20,” he said. “If I could go back and change things, everyone would go back and change the mistakes they made in the game. It’s part and parcel of international rugby.

“I knew those comments would come no matter how the game went. You just have to take everything with a pinch of salt. Those people online haven’t played a game for their country, probably sat in the pub having had a few beers, calling people out because their country lost, which is fair enough. There are times I’ll be looking at a football screen doing the same thing.

“The pressure, the nerves, they get to you and make you do stupid things. It was still such an amazing experience.”

Having earned his first cap in round one, Murley was ruled out of the victory the following week against France at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium with a foot injury. He has not been involved with the England squad since, but said that he remains hopeful that he can feature again later in the Championship.