Geordan Murphy

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Geordan Edward Andrew Murphy (born 19 April 1978 in Naas, near Dublin) is an Irish rugby union footballer who plays wing or fullback for the English club Leicester Tigers and Ireland.

He was officially named George after his father but his mother called him Geordan to avoid confusion. His six brothers and sister all played rugby union. Geordan was educated at Newbridge College, Newbridge, Co. Kildare before attending De Montfort University in Leicester.

In 1997 shortly before he joined Leicester Tigers he gained his first U18 cap for Ireland. He gradually made his way into the Tigers' first team squad, while gaining caps for Ireland U21. Opportunities at fullback were limited by the presence of Tim Stimpson, but he gained a place on the right wing. He was overlooked for a while by the Ireland team, probably because of their policy of preferring not to select foreign-based players in order to encourage them to play at home.

In June 2000, after representing Ireland A and an Ireland XV, he made his full Ireland debut against the United States, scoring twice. The 2000/01 season saw him turning out regularly for Ireland A during the “shadow” Six Nations and led to him being picked for the Barbarians tour of the UK and Ireland that year. The 2001/02 season saw Geordan finishing the season as Tigers' top try scorer in all competitions. He also scored a try for Ireland against Samoa in November 2001, and two more against Wales in Dublin in that season's Six Nations, but was then injured in the game against England.

He toured with Ireland in the summer of 2002, adding 2 more caps to his tally, but missed the start of Tigers 2002/03 campaign after undergoing surgery. He returned to fitness in time to participate in the Autumn internationals, and his form for his country in the 2003 Six Nations, where he was an ever-present, earned him the accolade of being named Irish Player of the Season by the Irish Rugby Writers.

Murphy broke his leg in Ireland's last warm-up game against Scotland at Murrayfield prior to the 2003 Rugby Union World Cup and did not compete. He was selected for the 2005 British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand and mostly played in the midweek team but was selected at full back for the third and final test.

His girlfriend is the singer Lucie Silvas.