Screen test can make or break Irish stars

Rugby Ireland Tour: John O'Sullivan talks to Mervyn Murphy, whose all-seeing videos are an essential coaching tool

Mervyn Murphy is a constant companion for the international players at training and matches yet remains unobtrusive, his face obscured by the digital camera that appears an extension of his hand. They know he's there, know that every blip, every aberration, every mistake, is being recorded for scrutiny.

After all, the camera never lies. It may not finish up on You've Been Framed but there are worse fates for international rugby players. The footage will be pored over by coach Eddie O'Sullivan, assistant coach Declan Kidney, forwards coach Niall O'Donovan and defensive coach Mike Ford. There isn't much humour in the process.

The development and preparation of rugby players transcends the playing pitch. Three years ago Murphy, the 31-year-old former Connacht and Ireland A (five caps) centre, received an offer he couldn't refuse.

"I had finished up my contract with Connacht and I was stalling about making a decision on my future," he recalls. "I was offered another contract but Warren Gatland (then Irish coach) had approached me in the meantime and asked me if I would be interested in taking up the role of video analyst with the Ireland team.

"I had a long chat with him over a couple of days and he explained to me what he thought the role would be. I then met Eddie Wigglesworth and we went through it. It was a pretty straightforward decision.

"When you're told that your contract is finished and then it is re-offered to you, you know the writing is on the wall. It was time for me to look at something different. This thing came up and I considered it an exciting development."

Murphy's background pronounced him the ideal man. He worked for Compaq computers before turning professional in rugby. He spent two years doing software licensing and had also completed a B.Comm. in UCG with computers thrown in. "Put it this way, I knew how to turn it (the computer) on," he laughs.

His brief? "It entails recording everything the Irish squad does from performances on the pitch, training, analysing the opposition and referee analysis. I capture all that information on to a laptop and categorise it the way we want it categorised."

That's the general description.

"We do that using the codes on a laptop. For instance, if we are analysing ourselves we use our own codes, devised by myself, Eddie (O'Sullivan) and the management team. At a full Irish game you would break down the codes to lineouts, scrums, restarts, penalties, turnovers; that would be called level-one analysis. An hour after an international you would have a broad analysis of what happened.

"Then after that you would go into level-two analysis, which is taking the players individually, breaking the game down piece by piece, first in terms of defence, then attack and support play."

Through a system of matrices the coaching team is able to view every set-piece in sequence without having to fast-forward through other footage and can reduce the game beyond that to the minutiae of individual defence and individual attack.

Training is also scrutinised, the most recent seven sessions repeatedly catalogued.

One key factor other than the players is the referee, so often crucial to the outcome of games. Murphy confirmed: "For example the referee we have on the Saturday (Paul Honniss of New Zealand) we break him down with another set of codes.

"You can look at all aspects of his decision making - free kicks, penalties, what his decisions are at scrum time, lineout time.

"It gives the players an understanding of what he'll be looking for and the coaches some idea of a pattern to his decisions.

"If required we can go back four or five games to Six Nations or Super 12, see how he interprets the rules in the Southern Hemisphere as opposed to the Northern Hemisphere. It might save you two to three penalties in a game."

The opposition are similarly dissected, usually going back five matches. Murphy often relies on his own equipment.

"For training sessions and some matches I have my own semi-professional digital camera. You input directly into the laptop. As I am filming I can either bring it back to the hotel to download it to the laptop or do it live on the spot.

"In terms of training I would come back to the hotel and while the players are having lunch I download on to the laptop. We now have a server to which eight laptops are hooked up. I download to the server (basically a data base) and then the players can all plug in after lunch and look at their training. Match days I could hook up the laptop to a television in the hotel or the stadium and feed in directly from the laptop."

It is possible to track every player through a game. Honesty is now a prerequisite and the video is required viewing. Some players are more amenable while others have to be browbeaten to the computer room.

The extent of the analysis can be illustrated in the context of lineouts, of which Ireland had 79 in the 2003 Six Nations and lost 11. The touch of a key shows in sequence all those they lost, and likewise in all areas of the game.

One threat is the paralysis of analysis, the danger players will subjugate instincts knowing each decision is under a microscope.

"A player's perception of what they have done is massively different to the reality. It can be a huge shock," argues Murphy.

"That is the benefit of having it. There is a certain amount of dependency on the analysis but you can get over-dependent."

The biggest buzz he gets is watching a player improve as a result of instruction following video analysis.

Ronan O'Gara is to have an X-ray on his damaged wrist and that will determine his availability for Friday's Test against Samoa. Jonathan Bell is also a doubt with an arm injury.