Conor Murray has the best wishes of the nation behind him ahead of today's crunch Six Nations clash with France.
Murray will feel it on the pitch when he jogs out for the warm-up as the Aviva Stadium crowd, already pumped for such a massive occasion, let him know that he has been in the thoughts of Ireland's sporting community since news broke of his father Gerry's involvement in a road traffic collision on Thursday.
It goes without saying but it has been a difficult week for the Limerick man and his family. Murray has been home to see his seriously injured dad in hospital. After discussing the situation with Andy Farrell, Murray decided to play.
It is a brave act by a player who has already given so much to the cause, for his province Munster and for his country.
The 33-year-old participated in yesterday's captain's run at the Aviva Stadium and, later, assistant coach John Fogarty said that the 33-year-old was "in good form".
Mental resilience has been there in him from the start. After a meteoric rise with Munster, as a 21-year-old he made his Ireland debut against France in Bordeaux just weeks before the 2011 World Cup.
He featured against England two weeks later and made the plane to New Zealand for the finals, making his first Test start in the opener against the USA, came off the bench against Australia and was Declan Kidney's first choice no 9 for the remainder of Ireland's involvement.
Murray recalled those times while speaking to the media on Tuesday,
“For me, I was just trying to take it all in," he said.
"I remember the carnival atmosphere down in Bordeaux and the buzz of getting your first cap and coming on. I took a high ball at one stage over Paulie (O'Connell) and that just settled me into the game.
"I know we lost it but it was a class experience getting your first cap and you always remember that. In terms of the squad, I was just loving being there and getting a few caps early.
"I wasn’t thinking about the drama surrounding the nine shirt at the time, I was just a young fella enjoying my rugby.”
The Patrickswell man progressed rapidly, adding Lions appearances to his expanding CV, and in a superb display in Soldier's Field in Ireland's first-ever victory over the All Blacks in 2016 saw him praised as the world's best scrum-half.
It was a claim backed up by his consistency during the highs of winning the Grand Slam and the summer series in Australia in 2018, but tougher times followed when a neck injury kept him out for nine months.
Murray was not operating at the same level when he returned in time for the 2019 World Cup and was pigeonholed as a box-kicker, though he has since argued that was down to the way Munster and Ireland wanted to play.
"Yeah, I'd be lying if I didn't say it but it has annoyed me in the past," he commented. "Like, it's just a game-plan thing, we don't actually kick that much at times anymore at, certainly, Munster.
"It's a strength when we do go to it and it's a good territory tactic and the boys chasing it are brilliant, so it's part of the game.
"Whatever chat goes on outside of my group, it really doesn't affect me. I'm probably too old to allow that kind of stuff to affect me. So, no, all good.
Over the past 18 months, he has largely played second fiddle to Jamison Gibson-Park at Test level while Munster left him out of the matchday squad for the recent Champions Cup clash with Northampton.
He could sense the 'end is nigh' comments.
"You’d be foolish to listen to that kind of chat," Murray said.
"You know it’s probably there with the way things are going, but in the squad at the moment, and over the last few years, it’s an unbelievable place to be.
"But as far as I suppose getting injured in November, then getting rehab for five or six weeks and the boys having gone well, you kind of have to accept it as much as you possibly can.
"It's frustrating but you are preparing as hard as you can, you are training as hard as you can to be in a position.
"There's no point in moping around and giving out and then, when or if you do get a chance, you're probably not ready to go.
"It's just keeping the faith in yourself and when something like that happens, sure, external stuff can go mental.
"Whereas internally, the chats you have with the coaches can be a completely different reason. So there was no stress, really."
An 11th hour hamstring injury kept Gibson-Park out of last week's championship opener in Cardiff. Naysayers felt that Murray's inclusion would dilute Ireland's high-tempo attack, but he disproved the theory in an excellent performance.
“You do have experience but even when you’re named to start late, the lads are getting around you and just giving you that extra bit of confidence," Murray explained.
"People have your back in this squad, there's a man either side of you when you’re named to start.
"The lads are brilliant. They expect you’re at a certain level but just a little bit of re-assurance and ‘let’s go, we’re ready to rock’ was a nice feeling, and you’ve done it for fellas in the past and it’s nice to get it this time around.”
The veteran added: "Now more than ever when you get a chance, if you want to stay in there, you’ve got to play well.
"Johnny (Sexton) spoke last weekend about being nervous before the game.
"That was one of the most nervous games I've had in a long time - just a lot of stuff going on and you really wanted to take your chance and want things to go well.
"The way we started that game from a team perspective was brilliant and personally it just settled you in.
"I was more nervous for the 101st cap than the first. By a mile.
"The first is all new to you. You're just taking it in. Now you know what can go wrong and what you need to do to play well and stuff.
“We knew how important it was to get off with a win. There’s a lot of people tipping you and there’s probably more pressure when you’re favourites. I think that’s a good mental place to be, to feel a little bit of nerves."
He might feel them more than ever today but will put faith in his preparation, his reliance on mindfulness and breathing techniques.
“That’s where I get my confidence from, just being as well prepared as you possibly can," Murray said.
"You’ve that kind of banked away and then you can focus on delivering your own game.”
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