THERE are plenty of players who retire immediately after World Cups; there are loads who call it a day in the periods between and there are many, many more who, in Sean Lamont's immortal phrase, are put out to grass by the selectors.
It tells you everything you need to know about the individual approach Euan Murray brings to life and rugby that, when fully fit, he has decided off his own bat to go four months before a World Cup. He always was a player who delighted in doing things his own way, coming relatively late to the professional game while he completed not any old degree but a full veterinary qualification; turning down Test caps when he refused to play on Sundays but happy to lead the team sing-a-long - Caledonia is one of his specialities - and with a deserved reputation as the joker of the party.
On the playing side, he has always been among the leading performers when he was available, frequently contributing staggering tackle counts, though few to match the 31 he managed in the rain of Newcastle, Australia in 2012 when Scotland won 9-6 to record their first win in the country since 1992.
It is fair to say that if he had not been outstanding, coaches would never have been as tolerant as they were. Andy Robinson, for example, had to tear up his whole World Cup strategy in 2011 because Murray was the only tighthead he truly trusted so he felt he had to take emergency measures when Murray's religious objections stopped him facing Argentina.
It was far from the only time the whole team had to bend to accommodate Murray's availability.
So where now for Scotland with the dilemma of whether or not to live with his part-time availability is not an issue?
For one thing it does mean that every member of Vern Cotter's squad for the Rugby World Cup later this year will be involved in every game, with the most likely beneficiary of Murray's decision being WP Nel at Edinburgh, yesterday one of only four named in the Guinness PRO12 dream team despite playing for a club outside the play-off race.
He has spent the last month playing down all the speculation about his Scotland future but he qualifies on residential grounds this summer and is certain to be fast-tracked into the side over the warm-up games before the World Cup - Cotter as good as said so in his briefing at the end of the RBS Six Nations Championship.
It took him a while to adjust to the slower more attritional style of rugby in Europe compared to his native South Africa but he has been one of the outstanding props in the Pro12 and however controversial the rules that allow a player like him to switch allegiance, every other country does it - there were three South Africans in the French side that opened the Six Nations by beating Scotland despite their hugely greater playing resources.
Geoff Cross has been the next in line but will find himself in a battle with Jon Welsh for the other specialist position in the squad, and in the long term nobody in the Scotland camp is in any doubt that Zander Fagerson, who will spend the summer with the Under 20s at the Junior Word Championships, will take over Murray's mantle as the go-to guy
Yesterday Cotter was full of praise for Murray's contribution, while keeping quiet on plans for a replacement: "It's fitting to recognise Euan's dedication over a 10-year international career at the coalface of the Scotland forward pack. At his best Euan was a world-class tighthead prop. On behalf of the team and management I wish Euan and his family all the very best."
Murray was one of the half-dozen players capped against Romania in Frank Hadden's first match in charge, a win in Romania, and he went on to become Scotland's most capped prop when he passed Allan Jacobsen's 65 caps in the final game of this year's Six Nations, he is also one of the tiny handful of Scotland players to win selection for the British and Irish Lions - though a broken ankle cost him any chance of a Test place.
His availability issues came in stages, first his conversion to the Christian faith and then in late 2009 he announced that after consulting widely he had come to believe that he could no longer play sport on the Sabbath day.
When the team were in action on the field he was as likely to be in action as a lay preacher and he refused even to watch the games until the following day. Now that he has gone, the squad will be a more humdrum place, but there is also no doubt that for the first time for years, Scotland have the resources to make sure they can cope without him.
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