In the end, Jordi Murphy made what he believed would be the best choice for his playing career.
When news first broke, on Tuesday morning, that Murphy was set to move to Ulster, many rugby fans felt it was the sensible choice for a man struggling to find game time. Looking at his numbers for this season, though, Jack Conan is the only other back row that has logged more minutes for Leinster.
Murphy could read the tea leaves, however, and his demotion to the replacements bench for games against Montpellier and Glasgow, in the Champions Cup, suggested he was not foremost in the thoughts of senior coaching duo Leo Cullen and Stuart Lancaster.
When Joe Schmidt named his initial squad for the November internationals, Murphy got another jolt. Even with Josh van der Flier and Jamie Heaslip injured, he was not included in the 37-man squad.
He kept up his match sharpness with a game for Barbarians against Tonga, at Thomond Park, and was drafted into the Ireland squad when Dan Leavy and Tommy O’Donnell were injured. He lined out against Fiji for his 18th Ireland Test appearance but it was not his finest or sharpest outing in the green jersey.
Murphy returned to Leinster and, last weekend, ran in a try in an away fixture with Benetton Treviso. By then, however, a plan was already underway to see him leave Leinster after seven years with the province.
Some may feel that it was Joe Schmidt that planted the seed of departing Leinster into Murphy’s consciousness but it was something he had thought long and hard about. He spent much of last season rehabilitating from a knee injury picked up in Ireland’s Soldier Field win over the All Blacks. Any protracted spell on the sidelines will show a player how life at a rugby club rumbles on with or without you.
A fresh challenge was sought and, fully fit and firing again, word went out that he could be prised away. Ulster were immediately interested and Murphy was familiar with both Les Kiss and Jono Gibbes, havin trained and played under both men before. The province was desperately on the look-out for mobile, talented ball-carriers.
There were a number of enquiries but the two other clubs that were keen on adding the 26-year-old to their squad next summer. One of them was Leicester Tigers, led by former Leinster coach Matt O’Connor and with Dominic Ryan already on their books. The other was Connacht.
Adding a Test-standard forward, who can cover all three back row positions, immediately appealed to the western province. Kiwi flanker Jake Heenan is leaving Connacht next summer and captain John Muldoon is still mulling over a one-year contract extension. He turned 35 last week but may be convinced to stay on another year if he can see real signs that his home province are moving in the right direction.
The third Irish province in the mix were Leinster. They have went to the efforts of nurturing and developing Murphy as a player and, understandably, wanted him to stay.
Ultimately, though, Murphy wanted to remain in Ireland and he felt Ulster were the best fit for him.
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