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Murphy explains incident with fan as he returned to changing room

Geordan Murphy, Leicester Tigers head coach. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Leicester’s head coach Geordan Murphy explained an incident with a fan in the stand at the end of a frustrating game was an apology for his use of bad language.

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Exeter have gone a point ahead of Northampton in the Premiership after tries from flanker Don Armand (2) and locks Jannes Kirsten and Jonny Hill plus four conversions and a penalty by fly-half Gareth Steenson saw them home.

Leicester, with a lot of their England World Cup contingent back in action, were excellent in the first period as wing Jonny May scored two tries and flanker Jordan Taufua got one. England fly-half George Ford landed two conversions and a penalty.

But the Tigers did not get a point in the second period as Exeter turned it up a few gears.

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Leicester have now won just one of their six Premiership fixtures and lay bottom but one in the table.

It has frustrated a lot of the famous club’s faithful, which spilled over with three minutes left as Murphy was heading to the changing rooms.

He walked back up the stand steps to speak with a fan but said it was only to apologise to him.

Murphy said: “There was nothing more strenuous than that (apology).

“Somebody said something which I agreed with and I swore. I realised there were kids about.”

Leicester’s first 40 minutes was one of their best for a few seasons but they ran out of steam and ideas afterwards.

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Murphy explained: “It is difficult against a side like Exeter who have numbers in their line. Things were stacked against us when we were chasing a try for a few bonus points and the rain came in and it made it easier for Exeter to defend.

“I thought there were a lot of good things which we can build on. We scored three tries, started the second half well but switched off for a little bit, a couple of things went Exeter’s way around the 60-minute mark and we were chasing from there.”

Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter believed his side looked “a million dollars” as they battled back from a 19-7 deficit to beat struggling Leicester 31-22 at Welford Road for a fourth Gallagher Premiership victory this season.

Baxter said: “Leicester have a lot of good players and, at half time, the coaches looked at each other and thought we have bumped into them on the day they are going to pull it together.

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“That is why I thought we did exceptionally well to stay together under that sort of pressure. Things were going for them and they did have momentum.

“After half time, we just aligned ourselves a little bit more like an Exeter Chiefs team and, as we managed to get used to each other and got back online, we looked a million dollars in the second half.”

Baxter also said that England centre Henry Slade will have a scan on a leg injury which he suffered during the match.

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TI 4 hours ago
All Blacks player ratings vs Italy | Autumn Nations Series

Rieko took literally years to turn from a defensive liability at 13 into a guy, who’s defensively sound as it befits the position. And it all came at the cost of him being much less of an offensive threat, than what he used to be. Proctor is a natural 13, he handles, passes, and kicks way better than Rieko ever will, he just isn’t as fast.


It’s unfair to judge Tupaea on the handful of games he’s had in 2022 before he got nearly crippled by a Wallaby lock. What could Tupaea/Proctor pairing be, if they got the same amount of chances as Jordie/Rieko?


Because no matter how you spin it, playing a player outside of his natural position is a poor asset management. No matter how talented he is, he still competes against players who had years and years of practice at the position. And if said guy is so talented that he actually CAN compete against specialists, imagine how much better still he could have been, if he had all those years to iron the toothing issues at the position. It just drives me mad.


Two things I hate in rugby union beyond description: aping after league, and playing players outside of their natural position. Especially considering, that they all admit they hate it, when they’re allowed to speak freely. Owen Farrell spent 80% of his international career at 12, saying every time when asked, that he is a 10 and prefers to play at 10. Those players are literally held at a gunpoint: play out of position, or no national jersey for you.

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