Christian beliefs rule Euan Murray out of Sunday encounter with France

Published on Tuesday 15 December 2009 22:22

ANDY Robinson has confirmed that tighthead prop Euan Murray will definitely not play for Scotland against France in the opening RBS Six Nations Championship match due to his Christian beliefs about playing on a Sunday.

The 29-year-old became a devout Christian while playing for Glasgow in 2005, having felt disillusioned with the path his life was leading and suffering a career-threatening injury. He returned to the family's Baptist church for guidance and, after leaving Glasgow for Northampton, began to study the Bible more intently.

Murray played for Scotland on Sundays in 2007 and 2008 and this year he insisted that he was prepared to play against Wales on the opening Sunday, with misgivings, but he then withdrew, citing injury. It is understood he then informed both Northampton and Scotland that he could no longer retain his faith and play on the Sabbath.

At a Murrayfield briefing yesterday, Scotland coach Robinson confirmed that he had discussed the issue at length with Murray in the summer and, now comfortable with the player's decision, did not entertain the possibility of a reversal. He said: "Euan has said he is not going to play on Sundays (so] he's not playing (against France]. I spoke to him in the summer because I wanted to be clear on why (that was], and we discussed that and it was good for me to understand why.

"The decision was made and we respect it. I don't think you can have flexibility in this situation. If you make that stand you understand that you can become hypocritical if you then say you'll play on this one, but not the following Sunday.

"That's wrong. He has said he won't play on Sundays; he's going to give himself to God. That is what he believes. It's not something some of us do, but we're not Euan Murray and we have to respect his choice." Many Christian sportspeople, notably Lions winger Jason Robinson and a plethora of golfers over the years, have had no problem competing on Sundays. Long-jumper Jonathan Edwards initially refused to compete on the Sabbath before reversing his decision and going on to win Olympic gold on a Sunday. But others have taken the oppisite standpoint, most famously the Scottish rugby winger and Olympic sprinter of the 1920s Eric Liddell, whose story was made famous in the film Chariots Of Fire.

Simon Taylor has also made himself unavailable to Scotland this season, though not on religious grounds, and has shown no indication of changing that decision in 2010. Clearly, Murray's situation is different and he remains a firm part of Robinson's planning, but he will be asked to play his way back into the side, with no guarantees of instantly recovering his No 3 jersey.

"Euan Murray is part of the wider squad and I'm really pleased he's back playing," Robinson added. "He's challenging for a spot, but Moray Low came through well in the autumn and Geoff Cross is delivering week-in week-out at the moment so there is really good competition for places.

"But irrespective of whether there was competition or not, I would still have respected his decision and dealt with it. Everybody's different within the squad. These are people, not machines, that we're dealing with and everybody has got to enjoy working for Scotland.

"There's a massive sacrifice you make to play international sport, to your families and your bodies, and you have to respect decisions that are made. We don't want to get into a situation where players pick and choose when they play, but I don't think Euan's doing that – he's just saying he's not available on Sundays. We will judge each game based on selecting a team to face France and after that select our next team against Wales, and we have an A game against Ireland in Belfast on the Friday (5 December]."

That was a clear indication that Murray is being lined up for a long-awaited return to the international picture in that 'A' game, giving the prop his chance to play his way back into the senior side for the match against Wales at the Millennium Stadium the following Saturday. Scotland currently have no other matches scheduled for Sundays in 2010.