Noel Arthur Augustine Murphy (born 22 February 1937) is a former 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 ...

player who represented

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

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 ...

, the British Lions and 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 ...

as a flanker. He also played club rugby for both

Cork Constitution The Cork Constitution (CC) is a rugby union club based in Cork (city), Cork, playing in Division 1A of the All-Ireland League (rugby union), All-Ireland League. It was founded by staff of the ''Cork Constitution (newspaper), Cork Constitution'' ...

and Garryowen. Since retiring as a player, Murphy has remained involved in rugby union, both as a coach and administrator.

Family

Murphy is a member of one Ireland's most renowned rugby families. Both his father, Noel Sr, and his son Kenny Murphy have also represented

at rugby. They are the first, and to date, only family to have a father, son and grandson capped at senior level.

Rugby international

Ireland

Between 1958 and 1969, Murphy won 41 caps for

. He also scored 5 tries (15 points) and was Ireland captain on five occasions. He made his international debut on 18 January 1958 in a 9–6 win against

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 ...

Lansdowne Road Lansdowne Road Stadium ( ga, Bóthar Lansdún, ) was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) that was primarily used for rugby union and association football matches. The stadium was demolished in 2007 to make way for ...

. He then went on to play for Ireland in all four games during the 1958,

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

and

1960 Five Nations Championship The 1960 Five Nations Championship was the thirty-first series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the sixty-sixth series of the northern hemisphere rugby ...

s. He scored his first Ireland try against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

on 12 March 1960 in a 10–9 defeat at Lansdowne. Murphy also played in all four games in the

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

and

1969 Five Nations Championship The 1969 Five Nations Championship was the fortieth series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the seventy-fifth series of the northern hemisphere rugby u ...

s and scored further tries against

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 ...

in 1964, and 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 ...

in 1965 and 1967. Murphy captained Ireland for the first time on 21 January 1967 in a 15–8 win at Lansdowne against Australia and was subsequently captain during the 1967 Five Nations Championship. He scored his final Ireland try against England in a 17–15 win at Lansdowne on 8 February 1969. He then made his final appearance for Ireland on 8 March 1969 against

. His Ireland career ended in controversial circumstances when he was involved in a punch up with Welsh lock Brian Price

British Lions

Murphy also toured twice with the British Lions and was a member of their squad for both the

and 1966 tours of Australia and New Zealand. He made his Lions debut on 30 May 1959 against

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and marked the occasion with a try. He played in 18 games during the 1959 tour and a scored further four tries, one each against

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

and

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runawa ...

Thames Valley The Thames Valley is an informally-defined sub-region of South East England, centred on the River Thames west of London, with Oxford as a major centre. Its boundaries vary with context. The area is a major tourist destination and economic hub, ...

and two against

North Auckland The Northland Peninsula, called the North Auckland Peninsula in earlier times, is in the far north of the North Island of New Zealand. It is joined to the rest of the island by the Auckland isthmus, a narrow piece of land between the Waitematā ...

. He made his Test debut for the Lions against

on 13 June 1959. During the same tour he also played in three further Tests against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Murphy also played 17 games and scored 3 tries on the 1966 tour. Two of his tries came in the opening game against

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

on 7 May. He played in four Test games, two against Australia and two against New Zealand. He scored his third try of the tour in the second test against Australia on 4 June 1966.

Coach and administrator

After retiring as a player Murphy coached

and then

between 1977 and 1980. He also coached the British Lions on their 1980 South Africa tour. He has also served as president of

, the Munster Branch and the

IRFU The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) ( ga, Cumann Rugbaí na hÉireann) is the body managing rugby union in the island of Ireland (both Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and home ...

. He is currently one of Ireland's representatives on the

International Rugby Board World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...

and is on the organising committee of the

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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Noel 1937 births Living people Rugby union players from County Cork Irish rugby union players Ireland international rugby union players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Ireland Cork Constitution players Garryowen Football Club players Barbarian F.C. players Munster Rugby players Irish rugby union coaches Munster Rugby non-playing staff Rugby union flankers British & Irish Lions coaches Ireland national rugby union team coaches People educated at Christian Brothers College, Cork