Not a bad role model to have.
Jordi Murphy capped off his second Six Nations-winning campaign with a great try for Leinster, last weekend. With Rhys Ruddock out for the season and the rest of Leinster’s back row suffering knocks this season, Murphy’s fitness and form will be vital going into the final five [potentially eight] games of the season.
Murphy is delighted, then, to have another two Ireland international back-rowers ready to do damage for the Blues again.
‘Sean O’Brien played unbelievably well [against Scotland],’ he says. ‘He scored his two tries but it is not just that. With his overall game-playing, it has shown how quickly he has come back considering that he has only had about three and a half games. It is a really big boost.
‘There is a good buzz in the squad and, going into this week, having the likes of him, Jamie Heaslip and the other boys coming back will be an added bonus for us.’
Murphy, who prefers to play openside but can operate across the back row, reveals how much of a positive influence The Tullow Tank has been on his career.
He said. ‘[Mentoring from older players] was one of the things that stood out when I was coming through. I wondered if I would be bothering them but any time I did approach them, they were happy to help with advice or my game; they would sit down and look at a bit of tape with you.’ Murphy added:
‘Seanie, all the boys. He was definitely a good influence… You just have to look at us playing in the same position so just the general, all-round back row game. It was more that I would look at a few of the things he did and the way he carried himself around in training. The things he says, they are not just about talking but getting the right points across. He brings that high intensity that he brings to training and matches as well. He is really a real 80-minute man; he doesn’t give up at all.’
‘Obviously, there is only so much you can talk about. A lot of that [influence] is me watching him and trying to emulate him. He has done such a good job for club and country in recent years.’
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