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1st July 2020
10:56am BST
Murphy was part of the Munster squad from 2003 to 2011, and made four Test appearances for Ireland, but a couple of serious injuries prevented him from reaching the heights that many in the game - including coaches and teammates - felt he was more than capable of reaching.
He scored 15 tries in 73 senior appearances with his home province and was a key player on Munster's run to their first ever European Cup triumph in 2005/06. Keith Earls came into the senior squad a year after that memorable European Cup victory in Cardiff, and he already had Murphy's card marked.
"You know," Earls began, "Baz had an incredible season, the season before [I arrived], in ’06. And obviously injuries halted it. A lot of people go on about the Sale game – the Sale try, the incredible try – but I remember his group stage performances as well. I think it was Castres away, Baz. You absolutely ripped it up.
"But the Sale game then, I remember the papers that week. The Limerick Leader was like, ‘A Star Is Born’. In the back of my head, I was so jealous. I was like, in my own head, ‘I hope he enjoys it when he can’. And then when I got in and I met Baz, he was sound to me and I was like, ‘Oh my God, I take all that back’. "I remember my first season coming in and I was like – obviously I was playing 13 and you were 13 – I was like, ‘Class, now I’ll shift him out of his place!’ But I think Dumper (Tony McGahan) just threw me to fullback and you were playing centre, so it worked out well for us. "Mafs [Lifemi Mafi] and Baz, when they played together it was… you know, Munster had had great centre partnerships but I think, between the two of them, that was the best two. "Baz was nearly like… he was one of the first rugby players from Limerick to have that X-factor. Obviously Mossy Lawlor was there as well and Mossy was in massive games for Munster, but Baz just had that ability to turn the game upside down and create something from nothing, and got us young lads excited as well. He was just a Limerick sham, as well, from across the bridge and he was leading the way for us."
Doug Howlett is congratulated by his Munster teammates, Barry Murphy, Keith Earls, and David Wallace, after scoring against Glasgow Warriors. (Credit: Matt Browne/SPORTSFILE)[/caption]
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