Munster Rugby v Leinster Rugby Match Programme

the chance to train and test herself against
the very best that Irish women’s rugby has to
offer – Murphy Crowe, along with many of her
Sevens colleagues, having the opportunity -
when restrictions allowed - to train with Adam
Griggs' Ireland Women's 15s squad.
“Being brought in here has just been a massive
opportunity for me. This was probably the
highlight of my year, getting the opportunity,
seeing people from Sevens transition into
15s so easily. It was a really good opportunity
to take and seeing those girls being able to
transition gives me the confidence that if I can
learn the ropes and things like that, I’ll hopefully
be up for selection throughout 2021.”
Murphy Crowe, who first picked up the oval ball
in her local club Clanwilliam FC at the age of 15,
has been excelling on the international stage
in the Sevens format. She is Ireland’s all-time
top try-scorer on the World Series while she is
also ninth in the list of all-time top try scorers,
rubbing shoulders with some of the sport’s
greats like New Zealand’s Portia Woodman and
Michaela Blyde.
they give you so much feedback and help you
out so much but yeah, you would like to add a
little bit of flair or whatever x-factor you have
in the Sevens, you would like to bring that into
the 15s and show them what you can bring to
the game, although it’s a different game. Your
strengths are your strengths at the end of the
day and if you can bring your strengths into the
15s game, then why not give it a shot?”
For many of us, Murphy Crowe included, 2021
remains uncertain but one thing is for sure, the
Munster woman is keen to wear the green of
Ireland regardless of the format.
“It’s so good for your mental health, just to get
out and exercise in general and then being with
such a competitive group, you always want to
get better and always want to put your best foot
forward.
"What will be will be, whether it’s 15s or Sevens.
I’m just ready to put on a green jersey, it has
been a long, long time and I’m just ready to do
it.”
Her performances also saw her named on
the World Rugby Sevens Series Dream Team
for 2019 in addition to domestic accolades
including Rugby Players Ireland’s Women’s
Sevens Player of the Year in 2016, 2017 and
2019 and Rugby Writers Ireland’s Women’s 7s
Player of the Year award for 2019.
With the Tipperary woman only turning 26 this
year, there seems to be plenty of opportunities
in the future to further consolidate her tryscoring
prowess on the world stage. For now,
however, it’s focussing on the 15s code and
Murphy Crowe wants to follow in the footsteps
of some of her Sevens colleagues like Katie
Fitzhenry, Hannah Tyrrell and Brittany Hogan
who all featured against Italy in the Women’s
Six Nations in October after playing in Sydney
eight months earlier.
“I’ve had to dust off the cobwebs really because
I haven’t played 15s in a while but the coaches,
"Being brought in here has just
been a massive opportunity
for me. This has probably been
the highlight of my year..."
MUNSTER v LEINSTER | 23.01.21 | THOMOND PARK
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