LEINSTER’S MURPHY INSPIRED BY DUBS STAR McCAFFREY
Leinster back-row aiming to follow ex-Dubs star as he juggles medicine and rugby
WHETHER it’s in terms of his rugby career or his future working in medicine, Josh Murphy is not short of inspiration within the Leinster set-up.
With backs coach Felipe Contepomi having completed his medical studies during his playing days, Murphy has an ideal role model to lean on, while he also picked up helpful advice from Leinster’s team doctor Prof John Ryan, who has been working on the frontline throughout the pandemic in his role as an emergency medicine consultant at St Vincent’s Hospital.
Then there are other top sports players, such as former Dublin star Jack McCaffrey, who for years was one of the leading footballers in the country whilst studying medicine, before he recently switched his focus to his demanding job as a doctor in Temple Street Children’s Hospital.
Murphy is nearing the end of his degree and given that he turns 26 next month, he is conscious that he will soon have to pick an area of expertise to pursue.
In the week leading up to Leinster’s Champions Cup win over Northampton, Murphy was bogged down in studying for an important exam.
Little did he know that his first European start beckoned as he was a late call-up to the starting team, but an early try eased the nerves.
Such is life when you are a top sports player juggling your final year of medicine, but Murphy is keen to follow the path set by McCaffrey.
“A few lads have brought him up recently when I was talking to Felipe,” the Leinster back-row says.
“But I suppose it is a bit different in that they fit their training into the evening – and it’s a professional environment squashed into the evening, so it would be almost be handy for me if we could do that at Leinster because it’s nice to get the mornings for the rounds in the hospital, to actually get a lot of learning in.
“It’s absolutely class what he’s done. He’s obviously won five or six All-Irelands while still getting a degree and I don’t think he did the degree as slowly as me either, so yeah, he’s absolutely an inspiration.”
Those conversations with Contepomi have also helped, especially now that Murphy has picked the brain of the Argentinian more often lately.
“I have left him alone in the past because I knew I needed to study and keep the head down,” he maintains.
“He came over here and worked as a doctor. I was asking him how he went about it and got people to agree to let him work. He put me at ease a bit that it is possible to work around a rugby schedule, even though it is a different time in rugby and medicine. He put me at ease that I have options and I don’t need to worry too much about splitting the two. I’ll figure something out.”
Issues surrounding student doctors entering hospitals has proven to be tricky. Considering many of them will become qualified this summer and be plunged into the frontline, Murphy and his classmates are awaiting further instruction regarding vaccines.
The former Ireland U-20 international has no intention of putting rugby on the back burner for now because he knows that the day will eventually come when his life will be solely dominated by being a doctor.
“It’s tough,” Murphy, who is set to feature against the Scarlets on Saturday, adds. “Rugby-wise, the pandemic makes me really appreciate what we have and even that we can play at all because sometimes you go into Leinster and you’re not picked and you’re like, ‘Aw, this is terrible’.
“And then medicine-wise, has the pandemic made me want to leave rugby and go and become a doctor straight away? I don’t think so.
“There are doctors being churned out of college every day, so I think I can still take my time. Obviously, it would’ve been nice to help out, but at the moment I’m happy where I am.
“Sometimes I feel like I am playing catch-up and I am coming in wondering why I am so far behind.
“You feel like a bit of an impostor in medicine sometimes anyway if you are put on the spot and don’t know the answer. Rugby is a good break from it as well.”