Jordi Murphy
Murphy playing for Ireland against Romania during the 2015 Rugby World Cup
Birth nameJordi Murphy
Date of birth (1991-04-22) 22 April 1991 (age 33)
Place of birthBarcelona, Spain
Height1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight106 kg (16 st 10 lb; 234 lb)
SchoolBlackrock College
Rugby union career
Position(s) Flanker / Number 8
Current team Ulster
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2011–2018
2018–2023		 Leinster
Ulster		 107
64		 (90)
(45)
Correct as of 5 May 2023[1]
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2008–2009
2010–2011
2013
2014
2014–2019		 Ireland Schools
Ireland U20
Emerging Ireland
Ireland Wolfhounds
Ireland 		5
13
3
1
30
(0)
(0)
(0)
(15)
Correct as of 25 April 2020

Jordi Murphy (born 22 April 1991) is a former Irish international rugby player. He played for provincial and United Rugby Championship side Ulster as a loose forward, and played for the Ireland national rugby union team.

Early life

Murphy was born in Barcelona to Irish parents, Conor Murphy and Nicola Carroll.[2] He was named after Catalonia's patron saint St. Jordi,[3] a decision which was influenced by the nurses on duty the night of his birth as the following day was the St Jordi's Day festival.[3] Murphy moved to Dublin at the age of nine where he attended Willow Park primary school.[2]

Murphy played rugby with Blackrock and was part of a successful junior side which won the Leinster Schools Junior Cup in 2006 against Gonzaga College.[4] He later went on to captain the senior side who won the Leinster Senior Cup in 2009.[5] Blackrock triumphed over Terenure in the final with an 18–9 victory making it their 66th senior title.[6]

Professional

Murphy was part of the Leinster Academy and played for Leinster A on 18 occasions representing them in British and Irish Cup and against the other three provinces.[5]

At the beginning of the 2011–12 Pro 12 League season Leinster had 14 players unavailable for selection as they were representing Ireland in the 2011 Rugby World Cup.[7] With a depleted squad and some impressive displays this led to Murphy getting his first senior appearance in their third game of the season. The match was a 19–23 home defeat against Scottish side Glasgow Warriors with Murphy coming on as substitute in the 45th minute replacing Dominic Ryan.[8] In the following league match on 24 September 2011 he made his first competitive start for Leinster in 15–10 away victory against Scarlets in which Fijian Isa Nacewa scored all of the Leinster points.[9] The match was Scarlets 5000th game in the region's 139-year history.[10]

Murphy scored his first try for the province against Cardiff Blues in a nine try victory.[11] In the same match he also picked up the man-of-the-match award.[11] On 15 December 2012, he made his Heineken Cup debut late on against Clermont Auvergne, replacing injured team-mate Shane Jennings.[12] Towards the end of the season he was named Powerade Young Player of the Year at Leinster Rugby's Annual Awards Ceremony held at the Mansion House in Dublin.[13] Only a matter of days later Murphy captained Leinster 'A' to victory over Newcastle Falcons in the final of the British and Irish Cup.[14]

Murphy moved to Ulster for the 2018–2019 season.[15] In his first season with the province he made 18 appearances and 227 tackles, with a 94% tackle success rate.[16] He made 16 appearances in 2019–2020.[1] He sustained in injury in May 2021 during a Pro14 Rainbow Cup match against Munster, which kept him out until February 2022.[17]

In April 2023, Murphy announced his retirement from professional rugby at the end of the 2022–23 season.[18]

International

Murphy represented Ireland at Under-18, Under-19 and Under-20 levels.[5] In the summer of 2013 Murphy was selected for an Emerging Ireland squad for the 2013 IRB Tbilisi Cup.[19] He went on to play in all three matches against Georgia, South Africa President's XV and Uruguay.[20][21][22] Ireland ended the competition as runners-up with Murphy providing an assist in the final match for a Niall Annett try.[22]

He gained his first senior cap for Ireland as a second-half replacement against England at Twickenham in the 2014 RBS 6 Nations on 22 February 2014, winning further caps that year against Italy (8 March) and Argentina (7 June and 14 June). He was a member of Ireland's successful 2015 Six Nations squad, starting in two test matches (Italy, England) and coming on as a replacement against France, Wales and Scotland during that campaign. In September 2015 he was selected as a member of the 31-man Ireland squad for the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Murphy scored Ireland's first try in the historic 40–29 defeat of New Zealand – then back-to-back world champions – on 5 November 2016 at Soldier Field, Chicago, but was stretchered off later in the game with what proved to be an ACL injury to his left knee.[23]

Despite returning to the national team, scoring a try in the final warm-up game (against Italy)[24] prior to the 2019 Rugby World Cup, coach Joe Schmidt did not select Murphy as part of the squad for Japan, opting instead to fill the final back-row slot with Murphy's former Leinster teammate, Rhys Ruddock.[25] However he was subsequently drafted into the squad, arriving in Japan on 29 September, following the broken foot that Jack Conan suffered in training. [26] Murphy slotted straight into the No. 8 role for Ireland's 35–0 win over Russia, but was taken off after 27 minutes, with Ireland up 14–0, following a dislocated rib,[27] and was replaced by CJ Stander.[28]

Personal life

Murphy studied business at Dublin Institute of Technology.[29] In 2009 he received Blackrock's sports personality of the year award presented to him by Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll.[30] He is the grandson of Irish Olympian, Noel Carroll.[31] Murphy became a father with the birth of his daughter, Lily, on 11 December 2020.[32]

Career statistics

As of match played 9 May 2023.[33][34][35]
Club Season Pro14/Rainbow Cup Europe Total
Apps Tries Pts Apps Tries Pts Apps Tries Pts
Leinster 2011–12 6 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0
2012–13 15 3 15 2 0 0 17 3 15
2013–14 18 5 25 3 3 15 21 8 40
2014–15 11 2 10 5 0 0 16 2 10
2015–16 14 2 10 6 0 0 20 2 10
2016–17 5 0 0 1 0 0 6 0 0
2017–18 15 2 10 6 1 5 21 3 15
Ulster 2018–19 11 3 15 7 0 0 18 3 15
2019–20 8 0 0 7 1 5 15 1 5
2020–21 12 4 20 4 0 0 16 4 20
2021–22 5 0 0 1 0 0 6 0 0
2022–23 8 1 5 1 0 0 9 1 5
Career total 128 22 110 43 5 25 171 27 135

Honours

Schoolboys
Ireland under–20
Leinster
Ireland
Individual

References

  1. ^ a b Playing stats at ItsRugby.co.uk
  2. ^ a b Breen, Peter (12 October 2012). "Jordi: I'll be ready". Evening Herald. Archived from the original on 17 February 2013. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
  3. ^ a b McCague, Niall (20 January 2011). "Blackrock's Barca Boy". Irish Independent. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  4. ^ "Blackrock College Newsletter Easter 2006" (PDF). blackrockcollege.com. Blackrock College. 1 April 2006. p. 7. Retrieved 5 March 2012.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ a b c "Jordi Murphy Leinster Profile". leinsterrugby.ie. Leinster Rugby. Archived from the original on 4 September 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  6. ^ "Kingston class seals Rock bliss". Irish Independent. 18 March 2009. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  7. ^ "Leinster squad must fill boots of Ireland stars-McLaughlin". Irish Independent. 6 September 2011. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  8. ^ "Leinster 19 v 23 Glasgow Warriors". leinsterrugby.ie. Leinster Rugby. 17 September 2011. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  9. ^ "Scarlets 10 v 15 Leinster". leinsterrugby.ie. Leinster Rugby. 24 September 2011. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  10. ^ "Scarlets edged out by Leinster in close 5,000th game encounter". scarlets.co.uk. Scarlets. 24 September 2011. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  11. ^ a b "Pro12: Leinster 59–22 Cardiff Blues". BBC Sport. 27 October 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2012.
  12. ^ Berry, Des (18 December 2012). "Drico return just the tonic for Blues". Evening Herald. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
  13. ^ Blake, Ben (5 May 2013). "Madigan scoops Player of the Year at Leinster awards ball". TheScore.ie. Distilled Media. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
  14. ^ "Newcastle Falcons 17 v 18 Leinster 'A'". leinsterrugby.ie. Leinster Rugby. 17 May 2013. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
  15. ^ "Jordi Murphy signs a two-year deal with Ulster", The Irish Times, 6 December 2017
  16. ^ "Making an impact at Ulster Rugby", The Front Row Union, 23 May 2019
  17. ^ "Ulster injury boost as Jordi Murphy returns for Dragons clash", News Letter, 15 February 2022
  18. ^ "'Looking forward to next chapter' – Jordi Murphy announces retirement". the42. 3 April 2023. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  19. ^ "Rory Best to captain senior squad touring USA and Canada, Rhys Ruddock to lead emerging squad". RTÉ.ie. RTÉ. 19 May 2013. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
  20. ^ "Keatley kicks Emerging Ireland to hard-fought win". irishrugby.ie. IRFU. 7 June 2013. Archived from the original on 19 June 2013. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
  21. ^ "Emerging Ireland suffer Tbilisi defeat". irishrugby.ie. IRFU. 11 June 2013. Archived from the original on 15 January 2014. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
  22. ^ a b "Second place finish for Emerging Ireland". irishrugby.ie. IRFU. 16 June 2013. Archived from the original on 15 January 2014. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
  23. ^ Gerry Thornley (5 November 2016). "Ireland end 111 years of hurt to beat the All Blacks". The Irish Times. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  24. ^ Ben Coles (10 August 2019). "Joey Carbery injury scare overshadows Ireland's warm-up win over Italy". The Telegraph. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  25. ^ "No Devin Toner or Kieran Marmion as Joe Schmidt names World Cup squad". RTE.ie. 2 September 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  26. ^ Gareth Hanna and Ruaidhri O'Connor (1 October 2019). "Why unbelievable Jordi Murphy will have no problems with quickfire Ireland start after Rugby World Cup call-up, explains Schmidt". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  27. ^ "Murphy back on track after 'rollercoaster' week". RTE. 7 October 2019. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  28. ^ "Live: Ireland v Russia updates". RTE. 3 October 2019. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  29. ^ "Lansdowne Yearbook 2010/11". lansdownerugby.com. Lansdowne Football Club. p. 57. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  30. ^ "Blackrock College Newsletter Summer 2009" (PDF). blackrockcollege.ie. Blackrock College. p. 8. Retrieved 5 March 2012.[permanent dead link]
  31. ^ "'Local' rugby star's Ireland call-up". The Drogheda Independent. 22 January 2014. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  32. ^ O'Riordan, Ian (16 December 2020). "Jordi Murphy will always Goal the extra mile in memory of his grandfather". The Irish Times. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  33. ^ "Jordi Murphy". leinsterrugby.ie. Leinster Rugby. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  34. ^ "Jordi MURPHY". its rugby. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  35. ^ "JORDI MURPHY". Ulster Rugby. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  36. ^ "Jordi Murphy". its rugby. Retrieved 28 December 2020.

External links

Ireland squad – 2015 Rugby World Cup
Ireland squad – 2019 Rugby World Cup
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