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Getting to know: Ireland U20s out-half Jack Murphy
By Liam Heagney
Jack Murphy is the latest out-half cab off the Ireland U20s rank and he has arrived in Cape Town this week looking to hit the ground running in Saturday’s World Rugby U20 Championship opener versus Italy at the DHL Stadium.
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The youngster demonstrated he had nerves of steel during the recent age-grade Six Nations, calmly kicking late penalties for the Irish to win away in France in the opening round of a campaign that finished with his team unbeaten in five matches but denied the title due to England having collected an extra bonus point along the way.
That tournament was the last for Richie Murphy, Jack’s dad, as the Ireland U20s boss as he has since taken over at Ulster, and the Irish now have assistant Willie Faloon in charge as they seek to finally win a first Championship title following last year’s appearance in the final against the French.
After Italy, Ireland will play other pool matches versus Georgia and Australia and Murphy will be hoping that the results will be good enough to get them through to the semi-finals and then challenging for the title. Much will depend on the form of Murphy, who is joining the Ulster academy once the age-grade tournament is over.
Before the action gets going in South Africa, he has taken the RugbyPass Getting to Know Q&A with answers that include Ireland ambushing the All Blacks in Chicago, golfer Bryson DeChambeau and Coldplay:
THE BASICS
Born: July 15, 2004;
Joined Ireland age-grade: U18s vs France at Marcoussis, April 2022;
Club: Clontarf, soon joining the Ulster academy. Previously Seapoint;
Position: Out-half;
Boots: Nike Tiempo;
Gumshield: Impact;
Headgear: No;
School: Presentation College, Bray.
RATE YOURSELF (out of 100)
Pace: 80;
Passing: 90;
Tackling: 70;
Kicking: 95.
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THE PAST
My favourite Ireland player of all time is… Johnny Sexton;
Favourite try I have ever scored is… in my junior league final, I scored a really nice one at the start of the game. We won that day with the last kick;
A rugby memory that makes me smile is… watching Ireland beat the All Blacks in Chicago. I was there in the stadium;
The moment I realised I could make it is… when I was in third year playing juniors. We had a good team and we won the league;
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One piece of advice I would give to my younger self is… just always enjoy it. Time moves very quickly, especially at underage. You have just got to enjoy your underage rugby;
My best subject in school was… English;
The first player who made me fall in love with rugby is… Beauden Barrett;
Growing up, my position was… a bit of scrum-half to start off and then moved into out-half;
The coach who has most impacted my game is… apart from my dad Richie I would say Joe Duffy or Maurice Logue from Pres.
Our Ireland Men's U20s squad for this summer's World Rugby U20 Championship in South Africa! ?#FutureIsGreen
— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) June 14, 2024
THE PRESENT
My best attributes on the field are… kicking and passing;
One thing I’m doing to improve my education is… economics in college. Looking to keep that going. It’s in Technological University Dublin;
My favourite current Ireland player is… Hugo Keenan;
My favourite YouTuber is… I watch the golfer Bryson DeChambeau. His stuff is very good;
My hardest working teammate is… Evan O’Connell;
My most skilful teammate is… Wilhelm de Klerk;
My favourite training drill is… a game sim, launch and restarts. It’s like a bit of everything thrown into one, like a game;
My favourite music artist is… Coldplay.
THE FUTURE
A player who could go all the way is… Brian Gleeson;
If I could play with anyone, I would like to play with… Any professional? Probably Antoine Dupont;
I will be happy with my career if I… have a successful provincial career and hopefully do what I need to represent Ireland;
One thing I want to add to my game is… defensively, always working defensively;
If I could play in any other country, I would play in… France because of the atmosphere in the stadiums;
One person I want to meet is… Tiger Woods;
One trophy I would love to win is… the U20 World Cup.
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