Farrell 'in awe' of centurion scrum-half Murray

Andy Farrell has paid tribute to Conor Murray, as the scrum-half prepares to win his 100th cap for Ireland this Saturday against South Africa.

With regular first choice Jamison Gibson-Park returning from injury off the bench, Murray is named to start for the Test against the world champions at the Aviva Stadium, his first time in the number nine shirt since the win against Argentina almost 12 months ago.

He becomes the eighth man to hit the 100-cap mark for Ireland, 11 years on from his debut against France in Bordeaux, and his head coach has led the tributes to his achievement.

"I am in awe of these people. It's pretty special because we all know that to be able to get to that type of career, you need to have what it takes," Farrell said.

"Whether you are a coach or a player you see all the ups and downs and all the pressures that come in from all sorts of directions and you see everyone wants to move on to what they perceive to be the next best thing.

"Somebody who stands up to be counted time and time again, to get to a point like that, I’m in awe of it because the hardest thing is to stay at the top."

And Farrell says the 33-year-old's career on the pitch is matched by his persona off it.

"Of course there are ups and downs but the biggest compliment I could play Conor – he’s a legend of Irish rugby and his abilities are second to none – is that he is a top, top class bloke. I don’t know anyone who has a bad word to say about him.

"We are all obsessed with rugby but when it comes to how he has managed himself throughout his career- and there are big things still to come – he is classed as a fantastic human being by his peers."

The veteran scrum-half has found himself as back-up to Gibson-Park in the last 12 months, but gets