He's gone but not forgotten

News: Gerry Thornley talks to the Ireland full back about the anguish of having his leg broken just as the World Cup is about to get going.

However bad the rest of us felt for Geordan Murphy, one cannot imagine what it was like for the player himself when his World Cup was so cruelly derailed before it even started due to the fractured tibia he sustained in Murrayfield last Saturday week.

As of yesterday, Murphy admitted that the full consequences of his injury hadn't completely sunken in. "No words can express how I feel really. I know I won't be going to the World Cup but it'll probably be during the tournament itself when it will fully hit me," he said.

That said, the 25-year-old seems remarkably phlegmatic about the ill-timed interruption to his career. All told, it is expected to be five to six months before he can return to the game.

Reflecting on the injury itself, Murphy confirmed that it wasn't so much the double tackle he took at the time so much as the manner he had placed his leg in the Murrayfield turf which caused the problem.

"I was looking to take a switch pass and sidestep, and all my weight was on my left foot at the point of impact. It was like I couldn't step out of the grass, and I knew as soon as I hit the ground it was serious.

"All I wanted then was to get off the pitch and get into the dressing-room because when I'd been injured before in Twickenham and Murrayfield I had to sit on the bench and had cameras stuck in my face. I didn't want that."

When he awoke in Edinburgh Hospital the next morning his girlfriend was at his side, and helped by "a lot of morphine" Murphy underwent an operation during a five-day stay which he says is now something of a blur. Even his rate of recovery is, alas, open to conjecture, although he's hopeful of being able to play again within five to six months.

"I went to see the specialist the other day and he was a little disappointed that they didn't insert a few screws along with the nail they inserted into my tibia. There's a little bit of movement or flexibility there which means I can't get into the pool and start doing some strengthening work. I have to stay on crutches for another three or four weeks," said Murphy.

After he progresses from walking to light jogging through to running, it's quite possible that another operation will be required to remove the plate from his leg, which in turn would mean another three or four weeks on crutches. Even when he finally does get the all-clear, as he says himself, "then there's the question of getting back fit and then getting back playing, wondering 'is it going to go again?' As is the case with any long-term injury".

An avid reader in his enforced idleness, an article by Simon Shaw in which the giant, in-form but overlooked Wasps and England lock spoke of also missing out on the previous two World Cups through injury struck a cord with Murphy. Nonetheless, he doesn't take too much consolation from the notion that at 25 he'll have another chance or two.

"It puts it in perspective but four years is so long way away and the way players are breaking into the game younger and younger you just never know what lies down the road."

His home life is in a bit of a hiatus at the moment as well, as he's moving out of his house in Leicester to move to an apartment in the city in five weeks' time. "Not ideal on one leg," he ventures. Offers of some media work will help pass the time, and he's contemplating whether to travel to Australia during the World Cup as well.

"Some of the lads have told me there was a fair bit of gloom around in the dressing-room when they heard of my injury, so I want to visit them in camp next week and tell them they've a job to do, and go out and do it. When they start doing well I'm sure I'll have mixed feelings, and wondering what it would be like if I was playing, but if I thought me going out there would help in any way I'd be out there at the drop of a hat."

Overall Murphy is "happy that the specialist and the physios are so confident that it will be right in five or six months. And I'd also like to thank the many people who've sent emails and good wishes to either myself, the IRFU website or the club. Tell them, like The Terminator, I'll be back." n The IRFU and Vhi Healthcare yesterday announced details of a "Fit for Fun" programme designed to assist primary schools in encouraging children to be more active and embrace healthier lifestyles.

"Childhood obesity in Ireland is a time bomb storing up problems for future healthcare," commented Dr Bernadette Carr, Medical Director of Vhi Healthcare, who highlighted a recent study which stated Irish children are now consuming 50 per cent less fresh fruit and vegetables than they were five years ago and spend more than 15 hours per week watching television.

The programme, which will feature two branded vans travelling to schools with IRFU/Vhi Healthcare fitness trainers, will commence on a phased basis and will spread to schools in all areas of Dublin and around the country over a three-year period.

Further information on this new fitness programme is available on: www.vhi.ie or wwwirishrugby.ie.

Meanwhile, the city of Limerick has been chosen by the organisers Vintage Sports, based in New Zealand, as the venue for the inaugural World Vintage Rugby Carnival, from September 4th-10th, 2004.

More than 100 teams from 22 countries are expected to participate in the Carnival. The competition will be open to three categories; women over-30's; men between 35 to 45, and men over-46. All games will take place at the University of Limerick sports facilities.

Information on entering a team can be obtained from the carnival director, Bryan O'Neill at bryan008@gofree.indigo.ie (086 2561216) or Gerry Lowe, Shannon Development, at loweg@shannondev.ie (061 710285).