Murphy ready for Les Bleus bow

HERE’s a tough six-marker quiz question. How many times has Geordan Murphy lined for Ireland in the Stade de France?

For those who answered in double figures, it’s back to rugby stats school for you. To the few who put it between 1 and 9, wipe the smile of your faces, its bad news for you too. Incredibly Saturday will be the Kildare man’s first appearance in the Paris Stadium, in the Six Nations Championship.

Thus, here he is at 27 years of age about to make his bow against Les Bleus in their own back yard of Saint Denis. As he suggests himself, better to have it like that than be thrown in at the deep end as a raw young buck still on his first razor blade.