The hard work is only beginning.
Jordi Murphy has made his first World Cup squad but, he tells us, that is just the starting line.
The Leinster back-row featured prominently in Ireland’s warm-up games but missed out on the 21-13 defeat to England at the weekend.
Murphy is a key member of Joe Schmidt’s squad but, for him, that is not enough. He wants to challenge the likes of Sean O’Brien and Jamie Heaslip for starting slots.
‘I’m not going to the World Cup to be a spectator or to make up the numbers,’ he declares.
‘I want to be making matchday 23s and starting games; to be our leading player. I would not rest on my squad selection.’
Since early July, Murphy and his Irish teammates have been priming themselves for international rugby’s top competition.
‘For the first few weeks,’ Murphy begins, ‘we were very gym focused. The goal was to get our fitness levels up.
‘That involved long distance and high intensity running. Having to make bursts.
‘There was a little work with the ball but not too much. We were put through the mill.’
‘The high intensity running is never at the top of anyone’s list. It really gets your lungs burning but the benefits are huge.
‘That combined with up and downs – running, hitting the deck then springing up to sprint again – is as close to game preparation as you can get. Rugby games are often decided by these bursts of rapid action.’
‘As the camp progressed, we saw more of the ball but we stayed on top of our physical conditioning by doing weights.’
‘It is the fittest I have ever been,’ Murphy adds.
‘I’m in the best shape of my career. It was a long season [last season] and I was a bit sore towards the end of it but I had an extra incentive to throw myself into this pre-season.’
Jason Cowman [Ireland strength and conditioning coach] and his staff had programmes in place for each of us when we arrived in.
While players are constantly monitored on GPS systems and will have to hit appropriate KPI [Key Performance Indicator] levels, Murphy insists that skills and spontaneity are not being sacrificed.
‘Clocking those kilometres is not the be-all and end-all of everything. If you don’t transfer that fitness into helping your team win a match – running around a lot but not doing much – then you are no good to anyone.
‘You can’t simply win rugby games because you are fitter than the opposition.’
The 24-year-old concedes that all of the speed scores have been claimed by ‘the flyers on the wing’ in pre-season but he notes that many second- and back-rows have logged ‘exceptional scores’.
‘The work being done behind the scenes is immense and hopefully we will see it pay off in the coming months,’ he says.
As for winning that Webb Ellis pot, Murphy is in no doubt about Ireland’s intentions at the tournament.
‘If we are going over, we are going to win.’
*Under Armour athlete Jordi Murphy was speaking as part of the launch of the company’s new Armour campaign. For more information on Earn Your Armour, please visit here.
