Murphy fit and finally raring to go

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Having made quite a name for himself at Newbridge College in his native Kildare, he opted to try his luck at Leicester, the famed English club that has always been brimming over with star names.

He was hugely popular at the Tigers and played a key role in many famous victories whether at full-back, wing or even in the centre. But when it came to the biggest days of all, he frequently found himself on the bench.

Four years ago, he chose to return to Ireland, although to Munster rather than his native Leinster. In a familiar country, he found a familiar problem and more often than not he had to fend off a range of talented players for the coveted starting place.

Injury rather than a lack of form hindered his prospects and now he has to battle with Lions Simon Zebo and Keith Earls, the recently arrived Andrew Conway, Ronan O’Mahony, Denis Hurley, Felix Jones, Luke O’Dea and Gerhard van den Heever.

However, Murphy cheerfully accepts the situation. Encouraged by excellent displays in the wins over Edinburgh and Zebre his defensive qualities were badly missed during the second half meltdown last week against Treviso.

“This season has been completely different to where I was last year with the injury,” he said. “I had an injury-free pre-season and I think I’ve started pretty well. It’s about continuing that form and trying to kick on even more and really nailing down a spot.

“One of my main goals this year was to get as fit as I could because it was my first injury-free pre-season, so I could really go after things. There’s so much competition. Felix is kind of back in the mix and guys like that. So it’s really important for everyone and especially on an individual level, it’s huge for me.”

Murphy starts at full-back against the Dragons at Musgrave Park tomorrow safe in the knowledge that after the flop in Treviso there will be no sense of over-confidence in the team.

“This will be a big test, a big physical test,” he said. “The Dragons bring a lot in defence especially with their line speed so we’ll have to combat that with our execution and pick that up massively compared to where we were last week.”

Meanwhile, long-term injury victims Paul O’Connell and Jones are on the subs’ bench for the Dragons visit while James Cronin and John Ryan have been rewarded with a promising start to the season with starting places on either side of hooker Damien Varley. JJ Hanrahan is named at out-half with Keith Earls moving from wing to centre and places in the back five of the pack going to Dave Foley and Shaun Dougall.

MUNSTER: J Murphy; A Conway, K Earls, I Dineen, S Zebo; JJ Hanrahan, C Sheridan; J Cronin, D Varley, J Ryan, D O’Callaghan, D Foley, P O’Mahony (capt), S Dougall, P Butler. Replacements: M Sherry, D Kilcoyne, S Archer, P O’Connell, CJ Stander, D Williams, I Keatley, F Jones.