Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe Relishing 15s Opportunity

Tipperary native Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe hasn’t played a game of competitive rugby since the Sydney leg of the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Series in February. However, she isn’t one to complain as she has used the lockdown period to strengthen different areas of her game ahead of a yet to be determined return to competitive action.

“It actually hasn’t been the worst of years,” Murphy Crowe told Irish Rugby TV.

“I’ve taken it by the throat and just took it for what it is. Before Covid, I thought it might have been the year to practice a few extras and add them to my game. So, I really worked on strength and speed throughout lockdown because we couldn’t train or train as a group or do any rugby at the time. I took that opportunity to work on those two things. I was pretty pleased when I came back in to see that my markers had improved with fitness, strength-wise and speed-wise.”

Ireland’s Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe scores a try against France on the Hamilton leg of the World Sevens Series in January

If Covid induced lockdown brought about an opportunity for Murphy Crowe to improve areas of her game, it also presented her with 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, have been training with Adam Griggs’ Ireland Women’s 15s squad in recent weeks.

“Being brought in here has just been a massive opportunity for me. This is probably the highlight of my year so far, getting the opportunity, seeing people from Sevens transition into 15s so easily. It’s 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 next year.”

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.

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.

Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe playing for Munster during a Women’s Interprovincial against Leinster in 2013

With the Tipperary woman only turning 25 this year, there seems to be plenty of opportunities in the future to further consolidate her try-scoring 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, 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.

Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe scoring a try during the Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco in 2018

“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. Next year, 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.”