Former Irish international Jamie Heaslip has defended Conor Murray over his decision to withhold details of his injury from the public. Murray earned the scorn of Daily Mail journalist Chris Foy this week over the lack of detail surrounding the injury that has kept him on the sidelines throughout the season thus far.
In the Mail, Foy argued that the public had a right to know about the extent of players' injuries. "In effect, their investment makes them shareholders in a team and its players. As shareholders, they are quite entitled to know if a marquee figure within the organisation is likely to participate any time soon", wrote Foy, much to the irritation of many Munster fans.
At the announcement of his new contract yesterday, it was confirmed that Murray has been suffering from a neck injury and there was no timeframe put on his return, although the scrum-half confirmed he has returned to training.
Heaslip also refused to divulge the details of the injury that ultimately forced him to retire from the sport, and speaking on BT Sport's Rugby Tonight, he said he could understand where Murray was coming from.
I can definitely relate to Conor. I was lucky enough to go a whole career without injury and never had to deal with it, but I was never comfortable with how easily medical information was given to the public.
So when it came around, I understood what my position was and I asked the question, 'Does it has to go out? Can I keep it private? I tried to start that conversation around medical data.
It's hard to go from one extreme to the next so I'm sure they will meet somewhere in the middle. I can definitely relate to Conor and his decision to keep his medical information to himself.
"I can definitely relate to Conor..."
Jamie Heaslip can understand why Conor Murray is withholding his injury information.#RugbyTonight pic.twitter.com/L6yLR5fbjR
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