Geordan Edward Andrew Murphy (born 19 April 1978) is an Irish

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

coach and former player. He played as

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

both for the Irish international team and the English club

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...

Youth

Murphy was born in Dublin, 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. Murphy was educated at

Newbridge College , latin_name = , logo = Newbridge College crest.gif , logo_size = 140px , seal_image = , image = Newbridge College.jpg , image_size = 270px , alt = Newbridge College and the R ...

, Newbridge,

Co. Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Cou ...

before attending

Waterford Institute of Technology The Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT; ga, Institiúid Teicneolaíochta Phort Láirge) was an institute of technology, located in Waterford, Ireland. The institute had six constituent schools and offered programmes in business, engineerin ...

and De Montfort University in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

. Murphy played

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

at Minor (U18) level with Kildare GAA in the All-Ireland Minor Football Championship.

Playing career

In 1997 shortly before he joined

, Murphy gained his first U18 rugby cap for Ireland. He gradually made his way into the

Tigers The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on un ...

' first team squad, while gaining caps for Ireland U21. Opportunities at

were limited by the presence of

Tim Stimpson Timothy Richard George Stimpson (born 10 September 1973 in Liverpool) is a former rugby union international full back (and occasional wing). During his career he played for Wakefield, West Hartlepool, Newcastle Falcons, Leicester Tigers, Perp ...

, but he gained a place on the right

. Murphy started in both of Leicester's back-to-back

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

final wins in 2001 and 2002, scoring a try in the latter final. He also helped Leicester win four Premiership trophies in a row in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002. Murphy broke his leg in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

's last warm-up game against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

at Murrayfield prior to the

2003 Rugby Union World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup. Originally planned to be hosted by India, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the Indian Rugby Union and Rugby World Cup ...

and did not compete. Murphy won his fifth Premiership medal in 2007, starting the final as Leicester defeated

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

. As he matured, Murphy preferred full back over wing. His main rivals for the Ireland full back starting position were Girvan Dempsey and

Rob Kearney Robert Kearney (born 26 March 1986) is an Irish rugby union former player. He played for 15 years for Leinster followed by a 6 month stint in Australia, playing for Perth based side Western Force. He also played over a decade for the Ireland na ...

. In his autobiography he stated that he had a poor working relationship with former Ireland Coach Eddie O'Sullivan mainly because he played for an English team. 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 The 2009 Six Nations Championship, known as the RBS 6 Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 10th Six Nations Championship, and the 115th international championship, an annual rugby union competition contested by the six major European national t ...

and Grand Slam. In May 2009, Murphy was named in the

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be less c ...

squad to play

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

along with Ireland teammate

Gordon D'Arcy Gordon William D'Arcy (born 10 February 1980, in Ferns, County Wexford) is a retired Irish rugby player who played most of his career at inside centre. He played for Irish provincial side Leinster for his entire professional career and is secon ...

. He took over the Tiger's Captaincy 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 English 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 Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

title, when the Tigers beat

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...

33–27 in the final. Murphy was chosen to captain Ireland against the in June 2010. On 11 September Murphy was picked to start in the first match of the 2011 rugby world cup since Rob Kearney was injured. Ireland won the game 22–10 against the United States. He came on then to replace Keith Earls in the Russia game. In May 2012, Murphy announced his retirement from playing international Rugby, and in May 2013, he announced his retirement from playing all forms of rugby. Murphy was left out of the squad for the 2013 Premiership final shortly before he retired.

Coaching

In May 2013 Murphy was declared to become assistant coach at Leicester from the 2013–14 season onwards. He masterminded Tigers winning of the

2016–17 Anglo-Welsh Cup The 2016–17 Anglo-Welsh Cup was the 45th season of England's national rugby union cup competition, and the 11th to follow the Anglo-Welsh Cup format. The competition returned after a one-year hiatus due to being dropped due to the 2015 Rugby Wo ...

, the first Tigers trophy won in the period Murphy was part of the coaching team. He acted as head coach for the September 2017 Leicester game vs Bath, when new head coach Matt O'Connor had only just arrived. Murphy was placed in formal interim charge of Leicester Tigers on 3 September 2018 following the sacking of O'Connor. This position was made permanent in December 2018. He was promoted to director of rugby on 1 July 2020 with the appointment of

Steve Borthwick Stephen William Borthwick (born 12 October 1979) is an English rugby union coach who played lock for Bath and Saracens. At International level, he represented the senior England rugby union team between 2001 and 2010 and captained them betwe ...

as head coach. His contract was terminated ahead of the 2020–21 season.

References

External links

Leicester profileIRFU profileB&I Lions profile
*
My sport:Geordan Murphy – The Telegraph
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Geordan 1978 births Living people Alumni of De Montfort University Barbarian F.C. players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Ireland Gaelic footballers who switched code Ireland international rugby union players Irish rugby union coaches Irish rugby union players Kildare Gaelic footballers Leicester Tigers players Rugby union wings Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union players from Dublin (city) People educated at Newbridge College Alumni of Waterford Institute of Technology Leicester Tigers coaches Ireland Wolfhounds international rugby union players Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate rugby union players in England Irish expatriate rugby union players