Former Saints ace worries about Murray situation
Former Saints lock Lennie Newman says his old club can't go on with their best prop Euan Murray missing so many games.
Devout Christian Murray, who missed the first 11 weeks of last season after wrecking ankle ligaments on the Britsh Lions tour of South Africa, had it written into his three-year deal that he won't play on Sundays because of his religious beliefs.
But the new TV deal with ESPN has seen even more games moved to a Sunday. Murray will miss six of the first 15 games of the season because they fall on a Sunday, and that includes the Aviva Premiership season-opener against east midlands rivlas Leicester. And the LV= Cup fixtures have yet to be finalised.
When asked if Saints can go on losing their best prop so regularly, Newman, who was team manager for nine years at Franklin's Gardens before stepping down last year, said: "No, in a word.
"Saints went into this with their eyes wide open. When the contract was negotiated they could have pulled out and said 'we don't want to do this', but they agreed to it. Nobody could have foreseen that ESPN would come in and more games would be moved to Sundays.
"It must also be disappointing for Euan. I don't think he had a particularly great season last year. It is hard the season after a serious injury, particularly when it involves ankles. To come back from that was hard for Euan.
"And he will want a good season with Saints so he can establish his place in the Scotland side for the World Cup next year.
"They have got cover and I think it will work itself out over the season, as it does with injuries. It will give them a chance to freshen up the side, and for somebody like Tom Mercey it gives him an opportunity."
But more and more big games are being moved to Sundays. Last season the Guinness Premiership semi-final and the LV= Anglo-Welsh Cup final were played on Sundays.
And Newman feels the issue might need re-negotiating when Murray's contract runs out at the end of next season.
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