Andy Farrell backs Conor Murray and hits out at begrudgers

Andy Farrell has backed Conor Murray to silence his doubters ahead of tomorrow's final Guinness Six Nations meeting with Scotland at the Aviva Stadium.

The Munster scrum-half has taken the brunt of the criticism for last week's 23-22 defeat to England at Twickenham, after his kick to touch in the 79th minute gave England a lineout from which they launched their game-winning attack.

The 34-year-old keeps his place in the squad for this weekend's showdown with the Scots, as he looks to win a fifth Six Nations title.

On Thursday, Farrell expressed his disappointment at some of the online abuse some of his players had received in the wake of the defeat.

And he followed that up by specifically praising Murray's longevity in the game, which he believes has led to a begrudging attitude in some quarters.

"It's certainly unfair because this is the way of the world, and you’ll agree with me on this, that the more successful some people are, the more people - I don’t what the word is - other than get p****d off with success, longevity, people staying at the top as long as they possibly can," he said.

"Everybody always wanting somebody else to come in and a new fresh young rookie to light everything up."

Murray, who turns 35 next month, will win his 116th cap for Ireland on Saturday, while he's played eight Tests for the British and Irish Lions across three tours.

And Farrell says he holds the veteran scrum-half in the highest regard.

"It takes an unbelievable amount of dedication and courage to stay at the top, and keep riding with the punches throughout a long career that's been so successful, for somebody with 120-odd caps like Conor.

"I can only marvel at somebody like that and when you ask me to describe what I think of him, it's right