It has been almost six months since it was
announced that Ruaidhri Murphy would be joining Ulster Rugby. This week,
following the conclusion of the super-rugby season, the 27 year old has joined
up with his new team-mates and he can’t wait to start the latest chapter of his
career:
“I have been counting the days until I could get here,” says the loosehead prop
who arrives in Belfast after a two year spell at the Brumbies. “I am looking
forward to getting stuck in and to meeting everyone.
“I have had my first tour around the
stadium and I am so impressed with everything already. The nerves are there to
meet a new group of boys. I just want to get myself into the team as soon as
possible and to see how we are going.
(Ruaidhri Murphy gets some advice from Jonny Bell)
“Obviously there is a lot of learning to do but that comes with the
professional game.”
While most of his new team-mates have been undergoing a grueling pre-season
programme, Ulster’s new loosehead is ready to play arriving straight off the
back of a super-rugby season down under:
“It’s going to be interesting,” he says. “To not have a pre season is going to
be great for the body. Coming off a season into a new one just means I’m in
good shape to play and hopefully that will benefit the Province.”
He arrives as a loosehead but towards the end of the Super Rugby season with
the Brumbies he was called into action as a hooker:
Murphy says: “It was an interesting experience. It developed from an injury - the
squad needed a third choice hooker. I started doing a little bit of throwing to
see if it was something that I could do and that went reasonably well.
“Then the Brumbies were invited to the world tens tournament and they sent me
as a hooker in a ten aside. That went well but over there we lost Stephen Moore
and then we lost our second choice hooker as well. Suddenly it all got very
real – I got off the plane from Singapore and I started against the Waratahs
that weekend.
“I just didn’t over think it. The message from the coaches was just get to the
line, take a breath and then throw it in. I found the scrum okay, but the
strike was obviously a bit different. I was just happy to get off the field and
to knock that first one out which was really good. I am a loosehead and I am
coming here as a prop. However, I hope to keep up the hooker skill set. If I
have a choice I would like to keep it up.”
So how do you approach the first few weeks at a new rugby club?
“I am kind of a head down guy. That’s how it will start and for the rest of the
week. We are into game week one next week. I just want to get a grasp on
everything that is happening, meet the boys, get a lot of learning done and
just rip in from next week.”