Gerry Thornley on the talented Leicester Tigers fullback who returns from the wilderness again
As frustrating as its been for his legion of admirers who have benn waiting for Geordan Murphy's international career to take off, it can't be anything compared to his own impatience. So Sunday comes and the gifted one has another chance.
The 24-year-old's test career seems to have had more interruptions than a Dáil speaker, preventing him from ever having three successive starts despite his 10 caps to date. He marked a classy looking debut against the USA in the summer of 1999 with two tries, scored another the following autumn against Japan, reappeared in the win away to Romania after missing out on the Six Nations, but since then has won his last half dozen caps on the right wing.
And fullback is where Eddie O'Sullivan wants him playing. "To be fair to the youngster you can put him in almost any position, he's an incredible talent. But we need to find another fullback for the World Cup or the Six Nations or whatever comes down the road. Girvan Dempsey has proved he's world class, but you can't have just one player in one position.
"So we really see Geordan as the heir apparent there and we would like the opportunity for him to play in these games and prove that, and obviously get more exposure there with Leicester. And that also creates more competition at fullback. It's a better landscape for us."
Murphy made his most impressive mark of all on the New Zealand tour, when despite living off scraps his ability to beat his man led to the close-range ruck from which Gary Longwell scored Ireland's sole try in the test series. Wherreupon, he was obliged to have a knee operation.
"That operation could have happened before the tour," said O'Sullivan, "but we were very happy to bring him on tour and I think he benefitted a lot from it, then had the operation when he came back and he's found his form again."
Upon his return, Murphy has hit the ground running. He scored two tries in his comeback game against Calvisano three weekends ago, added another try and a 45-metre drop goal in a virtuoso performance in front of the watching O'Sullivan against Saracens the following week, and assumed place-kicking duties in last Saturday's win away to Northampton when scoring 11 points.
Murphy admits he's been pleasantly surprised by his own form. "No player coming back from a long-term injury expects to go back into form straight away. Not to say I haven't made mistakes, but not as many as I would have expected. It's been going alright and I'm absolutely delighted to be back in the Ireland fold so soon. I hadn't expected that."
Significantly, although he's worn the number 14 jersey in the first two of those three comeback games, he's actually played at fullback in all of them. Murphy admits he's let it be known to Leicester that his preference is for fullback.
"I've said to Leicester that I'd prefer to play a few more games there. I don't mind playing on the wing. I think it pays to be versatile. But I've made no secret that whenever I've had a few games at fullback that's where I enjoy most."
"He's got all the credentials to play there," says O'Sullivan, "and I think it's a great chance for Geordan on Sunday to put in a good performance."
Nothing flashy required then. Murphy needn't display his full repertoire. Dempsey may not have the same devoted fan club, but in his own inimitable unfussy way, he's set a benchmark now.
England's Jonny Wilkinson has been voted the 2002 International Rugby Player of the Year. Voted for by the International Rugby Players' Association, Wilkinson won the award ahead of Brian O'Driscoll, who captained Ireland to a historic victory over Australia last weekend, New Zealand's Scott Robertson, Frenchman Fabien Galthie and the Wallabies' Stephen Larkham.
