Murphy puts personal torment to one side
Rubbing salt into that wound, what do you do when the man who is keeping you off that team is also your international room-mate?
Grin and bear it, that’s what, and that’s exactly what Geordan Murphy is doing these days, as Girvan Dempsey again gets the nod at full back on Sunday for the historic visit of France to Croke Park.
“It’s a major disappointment,” the Kildare man candidly admits. “The politically correct line is to say nothing, keep the head down and keep working. But obviously it’s very disappointing not to be involved. Things have been going well for Leicester, and for myself at full-back, but I keep just missing out. I’ve talked to Girvan about it, and we accept that one of us is always going to be disappointed. “Last week it was me (the win against Wales), this week it looks like me again. But Girvan is a lovely guy, is playing very well and that’s just the way it goes. I’ve got to keep making it tough for Eddie (O’Sullivan) to pick the team, but he’s going to go with who he feels is right for the job.
“It’s good for a coach to have loyalty to a player as well and you have to admire that. I’m sure every player has been on the wrong end of it, on the fringes but finding it difficult to break in.”
And disappointing as it is, it could have been worse; two of Geordan’s Leicester team-mates didn’t even make the Irish A team, Leo Cullen and Shane Jennings both on the bench for tomorrow’s match against England Saxons.
“That just shows the strength of Irish rugby at the moment,” he nodded as he scanned the team sheets, “And there are 25 players on this page too (the senior squad, Eddie O’Sullivan naming three extra players as cover for Brian O’Driscoll, Peter Stringer and Denis Leamy, all nursing injuries). It’s a good time for Irish rugby with a lot of very talented players.”
There is still hope for Geordan of course. If Brian O’Driscoll’s hamstring injury rules him out of contention, then Shane Horgan could move into the centre, with Geordan coming in on the wing.
Not his favourite position, definitely not the way he wants to get onto the starting 15. “For me to get in means that Drico will be out through injury, and obviously everyone in the country will be a lot happier if he’s playing. I just have to prepare as though I’m going to be starting and if it turns out that I’m not, face up to that disappointment.”
Bad as that disappointment would be — should it turn out like that — there would be the added disappointment on this occasion of missing out on a bit of history. Given that Geordan is a former minor footballer with Kildare, played with Dermot Earley, he would dearly love to get a run in Croke Park.
“Very much so, but it’s one of those things; whether I’m involved in the starting line-up or whether I’m on the bench, I’m certainly hoping to spend a bit of playing time on the pitch. It should be a tremendous occasion. The boys are all very aware of how special a place it is. Hopefully I’ll get a run.”
Hopefully also he will have the same impact as he had when he made a blood-sub appearance in the first-half against Wales last Sunday. Caught an errant long kick down the left wing, lofted a garryowen, gave chase, then made a tremendous leap and catch well inside the Welsh 22, one of which Earley would have been proud. From that possession — Murphy again involved, this time with a long skip pass off his left hand — O’Driscoll scored a super try in the corner, converted by O’Gara to put Ireland in the driving seat at a time when they were really struggling.
The Kildare-man downplays his input. “It’s always difficult to come off the bench and immediately get up to speed, so I was pleased enough not to make too many mistakes. The first nine minutes that I got on, when Denis got the blood injury (he also came on in the final ten minutes, a replacement for O’Driscoll), I wanted to try and get my hands on the ball as quickly as possible, make an impact.”
As a matter of interest, and given that the modern full-back has to deal so often with both, which is more difficult, the kick and chase of your own ball, or defending such a garryowen?
“Skill-wise it’s probably more difficult following up, but it takes about the same nerve. It’s tougher to kick, chase and catch, there’s a bigger chance of knocking-on, which takes the pressure off the opposition — the opposite of what you’re trying to do.
You have to have one eye on the ball but one eye also on where you’re going, who’s getting in your way to try and slow you up. You have to run around players, through players. When you’re standing under a high bomb, you’re aware there’s probably someone coming in to compete with you, and that too is difficult, but that’s more one of the basics of your job. There’s pressure there as well, but it’s something that has to be done.”
The little bit of luck Geordan needs this week, however, if he’s to start in Croke Park, isn’t necessarily the kind of luck he’s talking about. Talented and all as Geordan is, deep and all as is the current rugby pool in Ireland, O’Driscoll would be a major loss.
Still though, a backline that reads Hickie, d’Arcy, Horgan, Murphy — how bad!
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
