Geordan Murphy

Geordan Murphy

Geordan Murphy playing at fullback for Leicester against Bath
Full name	Geordan Edward Andrew Murphy
Date of birth	19 April 1978 (1978-04-19)
Place of birth	Dublin, Ireland
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	87 kg (13 st 10 lb)
School	Newbridge College
University	De Montfort University and Waterford Institute of Technology
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position	Fullback, Wing
Professional / senior clubs
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
1997–present	Leicester Tigers	300	(631)
correct as of 21 Aug 2011.
National team(s)
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
2000–present 2005 2009	Ireland Lions Barbarians	74 2 1	(98) (0) (0)
correct as of 25 October 2011.

Geordan Edward Andrew Murphy (born 19 April 1978 in Dublin) is an Irish rugby union rugby player and plays fullback or wing for the English club Leicester Tigers and Ireland.

He was officially named George after his father but his mother called him Geordan to avoid confusion. His six brothers and sister all played rugby union. Geordan was educated at Newbridge College, Newbridge, Co. Kildare before attending Waterford Institute of Technology and De Montfort University in Leicester.

Murphy played Gaelic football at Minor (U18) level with Kildare GAA in the All-Ireland Minor Football Championship. In 1997 shortly before he joined Leicester Tigers he gained his first U18 rugby cap for Ireland. He gradually made his way into the Tigers' first team squad, while gaining caps for Ireland U21. Opportunities at fullback were limited by the presence of Tim Stimpson, but he gained a place on the right wing. Murphy played in both of Leicester's back-to-back Heineken Cup final wins in 2001 & 2002.

In June 2000, after representing Ireland A and an Ireland XV, he made his full Ireland debut against the United States, scoring twice. The 2000/01 season saw him turning out regularly for Ireland A during the “shadow” Six Nations and led to him being picked for the Barbarians tour of the UK and Ireland that year. The 2001/02 season saw Murphy finishing the season as Tigers' top try scorer in all competitions. He also scored a try for Ireland against Samoa in November 2001, and two more against Wales in Dublin in that season's Six Nations, but was then injured in the game against England.

He toured with Ireland in the summer of 2002, adding 2 more caps to his tally, but missed the start of Tigers 2002/03 campaign after undergoing surgery. He returned to fitness in time to participate in the Autumn internationals, and his form for his country in the 2003 Six Nations, where he was an ever-present, earned him the accolade of being named Irish Player of the Season by the Irish Rugby Writers.

Murphy broke his leg in Ireland's last warm-up game against Scotland at Murrayfield prior to the 2003 Rugby Union World Cup and did not compete. He was selected for the 2005 British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand and played in the warm-up test match vs Argentina, then mostly played in the midweek team but was selected at full back for the third and final test.

As he has matured, Murphy prefers full back over wing. His main rivals in recent years for the Ireland full back starting position has been Girvan Dempsey and Rob Kearney. It was rumoured that he had a poor working relationship with former Ireland Coach Eddie O'Sullivan. Murphy was named as the starting full back for Ireland in the crucial game against Argentina on 22 November 2008, and scored one of Ireland's two tries in that game.

He was a member of the victorious Ireland team that won the 2009 Six Nations Championship and Grand Slam. In May 2009, Murphy was named in the Barbarians squad to play England and Australia along with Ireland team mate Gordon D'Arcy.

He took over the Tigers on the field in the 2008/9 season, when club captain Martin Corry was not in the team, and led them to two finals that season – Heineken Cup and Guinness Premiership, the latter of which they won. The following season, he was named official club captain, though missed out on much of the season due to injury. He returned in February, to lead the team to a successive Guinness Premiership title, when the Tigers beat Saracens 33–27 in the final.

Murphy was chosen to captain Ireland against the New Zealand Maori in June 2010.

External links

• Leicester profile
• IRFU profile
• B&I Lions profile
• ESPNscrum profile
• My sport:Geordan Murphy – The Telegraph