Murphy is relishing his return
LAST Friday, Rory Best spoke in such glowing terms about Jordi Murphy that we should have known the Leinster flanker was still on Joe Schmidt’s radar for these tests, despite his omission from the 38strong Ireland squad that included seven back rows.
Ulster’s lineout was ravaged on October 28 in Ireland skipper Best’s first start of the season, with himself and back-up Rob Herring shouldering the blame for a damagingly low 62 per cent success rate of touch (10/16).
What happened? ‘They picked Jordi Murphy, which counted a bit against us,’ said Best. ‘As you saw for the time he was on the pitch last year in Chicago and numerous times for Ireland, he is a very good lineout forward.
‘They were showing us spaces that we thought were open but because he is so quick getting up, he was disrupting.’
As Best spoke admiringly seven days ago, Murphy was getting ready to play for the Barbarians against Tonga in Limerick having been already told by Schmidt he would be wanted by Ireland this week as Tommy O’Donnell and Dan Leavy had pulled up lame and weren’t available.
Securing the No 7 shirt for tomorrow is quite the coup for the flanker, who was last seen at Test level when severely injuring the ACL in his left knee during last November’s breakthrough ambush of New Zealand.
Encouragingly, it’s not the same old Murphy either who is returning to the fold, as the 26-year-old admitted that his lengthy lay-off forced him into a rethink.
‘I’m trying to enjoy every day as much as I can, I’m not taking anything for granted any more which maybe I did in the past,’ he explained, quite an admission in a sport where players rarely own up to weakness.
‘I do a lot more work on rehab outside of the pitch, not just working on passing or tackling, it’s in the gym working on certain parts of me to keep everything going and try and avoid situations like the knee going out of nowhere the last time.’
He knew he would eventually get back in the Ireland green, that the ‘dark times’ of last winter would give way to hope he could star on the pitch again. Special mention went to Leinster physio Karl Denver, thanked for the unstinting role he played in a rehab programme that featured five- and six-day training weeks.
During that time, the sidelined Murphy never steered clear of matches, never shied away from showing his face to keep spirits high. ‘If you’re not involved, especially in the Leinster environment, you’re going to every game.
‘You don’t want to be out in the wilderness on your own for that period, so it was good to be able to integrate with the lads.
‘I wasn’t out on the pitch for seven or eight months, but I definitely preferred to keep my eye in,’ he continued, adding that any regrets about his mixed Chicago emotions are long filed away.
‘It took me a couple of weeks to get my head around it [starting against the All Blacks but sustaining serious injury], but I can only look back at it positively now, I can only look back on being a part of a great bit of Irish rugby history. And I suppose I got to play 25 minutes.’
He featured for longer than that last Friday at a filthy wet Thomond Park, and his first taste of the Barbarians’ care-free approach was an experience that took him back to fun days with the Blackrock Under-20s.
‘I wouldn’t want to be doing it every week, but it was nice for a bit of a change,’ he said, acknowledging the vast difference between exhibition rugby prep and life in the high-pressure Ireland environment.
‘I was saying to Ruan Smith two days before the game, “This is so strange for me, it’s so relaxed”. We had maybe two or three moves and were trying to come up with funny penalty moves and things.
‘We had four lineouts that we could call on the day and he was just saying it’s one of those things, it’s no-pressure rugby. It’s the Barbarians at the end of the day, but nobody wants to lose in that jersey so it’s very relaxed at the start of the week and then it starts toning up and when you get the opportunity you have to bring it.’
In contrast, you can be sure the emphasis on his need to perform tomorrow began as soon as he arrived into Schmidt’s camp last Sunday. ‘I’d be lying if I said the Baa-Baas wasn’t more craic,’ he admitted. ‘I wasn’t in the [Ireland] squad, but it shows you how quick things can change. The game is attritional, a lot of injuries, so you just have to be ready to step in when you get the chance. I’m grateful to get this opportunity.’