IrishRugby.ie caught up with man-of-the-match Geordan Murphy in the aftermath of Saturday’s Six Nations win over Scotland to reflect on the game itself and the lead-up to it.
GEORDAN MURPHY…
ON COMING IN LATE TO REPLACE GIRVAN DEMPSEY AS IRELAND’S STARTING FULL-BACK:
“It was a very strange week this week. I was actually carrying a knock on my knee – Monday and Tuesday – so I couldn’t really train.
“I was left out of the team on Tuesday afternoon, flew back to Leicester on Tuesday evening. Was in physio on Wednesday and Leicester were pressing me to see if I was going to be fit to play for Leicester (today) against Sale – fitness tests and physio and what not.
“Made the call on Wednesday afternoon that I was going to play for Leicester. Went back in for physio on Thursday, we had no training that day, and around lunch-time I found my phone and they were saying ‘come back (to Dublin), there’s a chance you might be involved because one of the guys got injured.’
“Back on a plane on Thursday evening, back in, didn’t really know what the story. Woke up Friday morning and Girv had failed his fitness test. I thought I might be in the 22 but Eddie (O’Sullivan) came to me and said: ‘you’re straight back in, you’re playing.’
“A rollercoaster of a week. It was a strange one. Obviously I had to do a lot of homework and catch up on bits and pieces. But delighted with the end result.”
ON HIS PERFORMANCE AT FULL-BACK:
“It wasn’t going to knock me. I’ve been playing a lot at full-back for Leicester. I knew it was a big game, there was a bit of pressure there but I wanted to try and enjoy it.
“I’m not saying I had the perfect game. I made a few mistakes. I suppose the day I have the perfect game is the day I’ll want to retire.
“It was important to get the win, first and foremost. The lads played very well and it was great to be part of a winning Irish performance.”
ON HIS PREFERRED POSITION IN THE TEAM:
“(Starting at full-back) I prefer it personally. It’s where I play all my club rugby and have done for the last few years. I don’t want to sound ungrateful for any starts I’ve had on the wing or any other position.
“It’s a tremendous honour to pull on an Irish shirt in whatever position and I would never turn my back on that
“I’ve always said I prefer 15 and it’s what I’m used to. And fingers crossed, down the line I might get a couple of more runs there.”
ON HIS CONTRIBUTION IN THE LEAD-UP TO ROB KEARNEY’S TRY:
“I’d actually dropped an up-and-under before that. The wind was quite tricky out there and there was a strong wind behind Scotland in the first half.
“Chris Paterson kicked up a high ball and I thought it was going to drift a lot further towards me than it did. So I ended up chasing in and dropping the first one.
“That’s never a good start so I was really conscious of securing the second one. Thankfully I caught it. There was some great play by Rog (Ronan O’Gara) and Drico (Brian O’Driscoll) and Kearns (Rob Kearney) finished it pretty well.”
ON FACING WALES NEXT UP AND THE SUPPORT OF THE FANS:
“Wales are really the form side in the Six Nations. They’re playing some fantastic rugby, so we’ll have a tough task ahead of us in two weeks.
“It’s building and hopefully the crowd will get in behind us again and who knows what will happen then?
“The atmosphere was fantastic today. The anthems made the hair stand up on your neck. It was a fantastic crowd and thankfully we gave them something to cheer about. So yeah, it was a good day.”
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