Irish rugby union player and coach
Rugby player
Richie Murphy (born 29 July 1974)[ 1] is an Irish rugby union coach and former player. After three successful seasons as head coach of the Ireland national under-20 rugby union team , he became head coach of Ulster in 2024.
He was educated at Presentation College, Bray , and captained the school to the Leinster Schools Junior Cup in 1990.[ 2] He played out-half for Greystones , Clontarf , Carlow and Old Belvedere in the All-Ireland League , represented Leinster ,[ 3] including two appearances in the 1998–99 Heineken Cup .[ 4] and turned down opportunities to play professionally in England and Italy, preferring to stay in Ireland.[ 5] He was the All-Ireland League's record points scorer until 2017, when he was overtaken by Dolphin 's Barry Keeshan.[ 6]
He worked for Leinster as a player development officer, and became the province's Senior Skills and Kicking Coach in 2010,[ 7] helping to develop players like Johnny Sexton , Ian Madigan and Fergus McFadden . Sexton would phone him for guidance while at the 2011 Rugby World Cup with Ireland . In 2013 he was backs coach for Emerging Ireland for the Tbilisi Cup under head coach Allen Clarke .[ 8] He became skills and kicking coach for the senior Ireland team in 2013, being appointed to the role full-time in 2015.[ 9] He became head coach of the Ireland national under-20 rugby union team in 2021, taking over from Kieran Campbell .[ 10] Under his leadership Ireland won two Grand Slams in a row in the 2022 and 2023 Under 20s Six Nations ,[ 11] were losing finalists in the 2023 World Rugby U20 Championship ,[ 12] and finished second and unbeaten in the 2024 Under-20s Six Nations .[ 13] After the departure of Dan McFarland , Ulster named Murphy as interim head coach from the end of the 2024 Under-20s Six Nations to the end of the 2023–24 season .[ 14] He signed a two-year contract with Ulster in May.[ 15]
He is the nephew of the former Ireland international Johnny Murphy ,[ 5] and has two sons who are rugby players: Ben Murphy plays scrum-half for Connacht ,[ 16] and Jack Murphy is an Ireland Under-20 international at out-half,[ 17] and a member of the Ulster academy.[ 18]
Managerial statistics
As of match played 28 September 2024
Team
Nation
From
To
Record
G
W
D
L
Win %
Ireland U20
2021
2024
25
20
2
3
80
Ulster
2024
Present
12
6
0
6
50
Total
37
25
2
9
67.57
References
^ Profile at ItsRugby.co.uk
^ Profile at Ultimate Rugby
^ "Leinster and Ireland kicking coach Richie Murphy always looking for solutions" , The42, 30 April 2014
^ Profile at ItsRugby
^ a b Foley, Derek (11 July 2023). "Rugby Under-20s World Cup Final: Murphy is a coach Rich' in ability" . Buzz.ie .
^ "16 seasons of AIL rugby come to an end for the record-breaking Barry Keeshan today" , The42, 14 April 2018
^ [https://web.archive.org/web/20141202115641/http://www.leinsterrugby.ie/team/backroom/richie_murphy.php Leinster Rugby bio, archived 2 December 2014
^ "Murphy keen to kick on with Schmidt" , Irish Examiner , 15 May 2013
^ [https://www.irishrugby.ie/staff/richie-murphy/ Richie Murphy profile, IRFU, accessed 28 May 2024
^ "Richie Murphy named as new Ireland under-20 head coach" , The Irish Times , 29 March 2021
^ Cian Tracey, "Ireland U-20s secure second consecutive clean sweep as Richie Murphy promises 'there’s more to come'" , Irish Independent , 19 March 2023
^ Johnny Morton, "Ireland U20 head coach Richie Murphy says squad will leave U20 World Championship as "mature young men" after reaching final" , News Letter , 14 July 2023
^ "Under-20 Six Nations: Ireland beat Scotland but miss out on title" , BBC Sport, 15 March 2024
^ John O'Sullivan & Gerry Thornley, "Richie Murphy to take over from Dan McFarland as Ulster head coach" , The Irish Times , 21 February 2024
^ "Ulster name Murphy permanent boss on two-year deal" , BBC Sport, 13 May 2024.
^ "Connacht confirm two signings from Leinster, including Ben Murphy" . www.rugbypass.com . 2024-05-09. Retrieved 2024-05-18 .
^ John O'Sullivan, "Jack and Richie Murphy bring father-son duo to Ireland U20s ahead of Six Nations campaign" , The Irish Times , 26 January 2024
^ "Ulster Rugby Academy confirmed for 2024/25" , Ulster Rugby, 14 June 2024
External links