Murray believes that while head coach Andy Farrell and his side will be “frustrated” by defeat and the fact that this Autumn Nations Series “hasn’t gone their way”, Ireland are still on the right track.
“As an ex-player I can see the level they’re capable of and the way they’re trying to play and executing it at times,” Murray said.
“They won’t be too down in the camp; they will be realistic in what they’re at and what they need to do to get to the level they want to be at.
“People from the outside will be like ‘loss at the start, two wins in the middle and a loss at the end’ and will think, is this negative? I really don’t think so, I think by the time the Six Nations comes round they will have sorted a lot of things out.”
Ireland’s next outing will be their Six Nations opener against France in February and Murray is still backing Ireland to compete for the title despite Les Bleus and England showing recent good form.
“Unbelievable Six Nations coming up with the way England are playing, France have been playing for a long time and Scotland… they’re all there,” Murray said.
“Ireland, I won’t be writing them off, but I don’t know if people will. They might look at results and not think they are as strong as they were.”
