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Marmion keen to challenge Murray for Ireland shirt

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Kieran Marmion is adamant he needs to step up his game if he is challenge Conor Murray for the Ireland scrum-half jersey this season.

Kieran Marmion is adamant he needs to step up his game if he is challenge Conor Murray for the Ireland scrum-half jersey this season.

Since making his international debut against Argentina in 2014 Marmion has won six caps, and was part of the Test squad which went to South Africa in June – coming off the bench to replace Murray in the second Test.

The 24-year-old has enjoyed a fine year after helping Connacht lift the Guinness PRO12 trophy last season, and is already preparing for the new campaign – which will see him fight with Murray for the starting spot ahead of the 2017 RBS 6 Nations.

“I just need to scratch up on the basics of my game, my passing and kicking; if I can make that as good as I can it will help me in every situation. However good it is, it’s never really good enough,” he told the Irish Times.

“We’re looking to push on and make our game even better, and bring in a few things which will take us to the next level, because I think if we stay where we are teams will catch up with us.”

Marmion was given some time off following the South Africa tour and may not be ready for the season opener against Glasgow on Saturday.

But he expects it will be a tough test, as the rest of the league tries to rein them in and knock them off their perch.

“Every game is going to be a big game now, because they’ll be coming after us, I guess. Hopefully we can get off to a good start against Glasgow,” he said.