High hopes for one of Irish rugby’s best female talents.
Jenny Murphy has recently taken up residence in the famous Ireland No.13 jersey. While Brian O’Driscoll graced the number for the men’s senior side, the outside centre position was shared, for over a decade, by either Lynne Cantwell or Grace Davitt.
Murphy has been entrusted in the attacking fulcrum for the 2015 Six Nations and is growing into her new role with every passing minute of action.
We caught up with the Leinster back at the Sandymount Hotel this afternoon and talked professionalism, full-kit ****ers, surpassing expectations and winning another Six Nations title.
Let’s clear this up, did you go to Ireland v England in your full kit?
I didn’t actually and I am delighted to get a chance to defend myself.
@jennymurphy045 full kit wanker…ready to head to the game #COYBIG pic.twitter.com/vw00Sv1UWv
— Ailis Egan (@AilisEgan) March 1, 2015
Some of the girls were texting me saying the had seen some English fans in their full kit. Full kit… whatever. I replied that I did not see the problem and took of picture of me in my kit, which my housemate kindly put up on social media. I appreciate that.
SportsJOE picked up on that. But, no, I had the jersey on and a green woolly hat. That was as far as it went.
As a Sevens and 15s player, does that pay the rent?
I would be in the bracket of being one of Irish rugby’s first semi-professional players. I hadn’t really thought of that but it is kind of cool.
I still have a day job as well, to keep me out of mischief. I work with Sky Sports so I am an athlete mentor. I do that, go around schools. They are very understanding about my need to go training and they are very flexible and supportive. Especially if I am away at tournaments or at the Six Nations, my workload decreases. They have been fantastic in that way.
Could female players in Ireland eventually go fully pro?
Fingers crossed. I think the sky is the limit with women’s rugby. It is one of the fastest growing sports in the world and is growing massively with Ireland too.
I don’t think it will get to the level that the man are [at], and that is absolutely fine. Even to be semi-professional or get a bit more [financial] help, it would make an awful lot of difference because it does take – even for a lot of the girls at club level and Leinster – commitment. The amount of training that they do and the amount of work that they miss, it does mean it would be help.
For the game, too, it would be massive, in terms of increasing professional standards. We are already getting that now, through strength and conditioning, management and a lot of other stuff. It does help the game. We are getting faster and stronger; that means it is getting more exciting. Professionalism would help… it would be fantastic and brilliant but, I think, it will be down the road a bit.
How much would a second Six Nations title since 2013 mean to women’s rugby in Ireland?
To win a Six Nations, at all, would be great, especially coming off what some people would say was a successful World Cup. But, the way that we went out, I think that will always sit bitter with me.
It would be fantastic for some of the older players to, maybe, redeem ourselves in the public eye. For these younger players to experience success… it is great to get into that habit of winning all the time. We you are not used to losing, you want it to happen less and less. It only bodes well for the future of Irish women’s rugby.
*Ireland take on Scotland from 1pm on Sunday, March 22, at Broadwood Stadium. You can check out the final day permutations here.
