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1st March 2017
12:08pm GMT

Credit: RBS Six Nations [via YouTube]
In an article on The Daily Telegraph entitled 'Challenging Six Nations weekend for British and Irish Lions captaincy contenders helps Conor Murray case', Gavin Mairs highlights poor weekend's for Wyn Jones and England captain Dylan Hartley in comparison to the Munster man's nerveless performance against France. He writes:'The momentum that had been building behind Owen Farrell as one of those contenders from outside ‘the big four’ [Wyn Jones, Hartley, Laidlaw and Rory Best] also stalled.'The next two games could well settle the debate for Lions head coach Warren Gatland. If Murray can help Ireland to wins against Wales, in Cardiff, and England at home, he could be in with a great shout. Interestingly, Munster director of rugby Rassie Erasmus does not feel Murray is gunning for the role. Ahead of the France match, he told The Irish Examiner:
"I don’t know if Conor would like to be the captain. He’s a very down to earth guy and of course the captaincy is a great honour... Certainly with his quality as a player and with his stature and aura, [but] I’m not sure he would want that."There is a growing sense that Gatland may name a tour captain based on his overall contribution to the squad and external media and sponsorship commitments. O'Callaghan believes Gatland could create a leadership group of four to five players with someone like Wyn Jones, who is not a Test certainty, as figurehead captain. Murray could well be part of that group. Don't be surprised to see him lead the Lions at some stage of this summer's series in the Land of the Long White Cloud.
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