Murphy/Geraghty Roadshow
A week is a long time in politics they say. A week is even shorter in the life of an international rugby coach. With the departure of Eddie O’Sullivan as Ireland coach, the speculation as to his successor has begun in earnest. While the much vaulted names of White, Smith, Kidney and Gaffney are being bandied around and talk of Mike Ruddock taking the job, those in the know have being keeping tight lipped on the issue.
There have been rumours coming out of Dublin 4 of a more potent and potentially explosive management partnership which has enjoyed experience and success over the last number of years. From the high veldt of DLSP to sevens rugby by the sea in Kinsale, the David Murphy/Shane Geraghty management tickets has proven year in year out that there is no substitute for experience when it comes to international coaching.
“One of the finest proponents of wait and see rugby philosophy” is how player turned model Steven O’Dwyer described Murphy’s intuitive coaching style. J1 veteran and long time rugby theorist Mark Browne when asked about Murph’s back room staff remarked “Sure Gero loves it….I sometimes wonder who’s worse, him or the guys on the pitch!”
The Murphy/Geraghty combination has been talked about for some time, with Murphy being linked with the South African job in the post Jake White era while Gero has managed to pour cold water on any mention of a career move to football with Sir Clive Woodward. When asked if Murphy could be the next Irish coach, an excited Conor O‘Keefe remarked that “it would be a fantastic day for second rows everywhere, no longer would we be tied to scrummaging and lineouts, playing inside centre would become a real possibility, I got my chance and hope to included in the Lions squad in 2009.”
In an interview to be broadcast on youtube, last season’s J1 captain Cathal Doyle described Murphy as “the finest coach we have had since the JJ Kavanagh 54 seater we got to Carlow last year.” Any contractual difficulties in relation to Messers Murphy and Geraghty taking over the Ireland ticket will be resolved by arbitration with Ceann Comhairle Eddie Conlon presiding over a committee consisting of yellow jersey holder Fredrick Gilligan, resident banter purist Anto Lee and the esteemed Club Captain and chief executive Michael Hastings. The Ceann Comhairle refused to comment on the matter other than to say that “what we will try and do here is come to a satisfactory conclusion for everyone, but in the final analysis we all know how such disputes end…..in a dance off.” With the prospect of a dance off in store, no doubt there will be panicked phone calls to former club captain PJ Bredin on the best choice of maneuver required to win the dance off and Dr. ‘Safety First’ Kiernan consulted on the likelihood of serious injury from its execution.
Whether the rumours are true or not is matter for the passage of time, but one thing is for sure the Murphy/Geraghty roadshow will roll on, the J1’s will face Trinity in their final league game in Belfield, next Monday at 7.30 and this writer’s exceedingly ridiculous column will ride off into the sunset and hopefully never appear again!