Murphy wants to raise a Cup to Corry
May 18 2009
Geordan Murphy is determined to present Leicester's retiring club captain Martin Corry with one final chance to get his hands on silverware.
Corry was left out of the Tigers 22 for Saturday's 10-9 Guinness Premiership final victory over London Irish after boss Richard Cockerill admitted he had to select with his head not his heart.
The two men are close friends but Cockerill admitted Corry's 35-year-old body is simply not what it was.
Corry reluctantly accepted Murphy's invitation to raise the Premiership trophy at Twickenham.
And Murphy would love nothing more than to share another victorious moment with Corry after next Saturday's Heineken Cup final in Edinburgh.
The Tigers are chasing a record-equalling third European crown and a third league and Heineken Cup double.
"He is the club captain. He has given everything to Leicester for 12 years and he was unlucky not to be involved," said Murphy.
"The opportunity was there to give him a good send-off. Fingers crossed we will try and get some silverware next week and it will be the same situation."
The number-eight jersey Corry dominated for so many years at Welford Road now belongs to Jordan Crane, who proved Leicester's match-winner once again at the weekend.
Fresh from landing the decisive penalty in the shoot-out victory over Cardiff Blues in the Heineken Cup semi-final, Crane scored the only try of the game at Twickenham.
Crane paid tribute to Corry's inspirational influence at the club.
"He is a legend of the game and the club and for him to lift the trophy at the end shows how much the boys respect him," said Crane.
"Geordan Murphy was captain and he may not get another opportunity to do that and he passed it to Cozza.
"He is a massive presence around the team. Even though he wasn't involved he still trained 100%.
"He is not involved but he is still leading the way. He is a massive part of the club and he has been for what seems like forever."
The Tigers were second best for much of an attritional encounter and Cockerill warned his men must sharpen their claws ahead of Saturday's European showdown against Leinster.
"Our performance was poor. We didn't play well but stuck to our task," said Cockerill.
"We could easily have lost - you can't deny that - but we did enough to win. Over the balance of the year we deserve to be champions.
"But on Monday morning we'll sit and watch the video and have a few harsh words because the performance wasn't good enough.
"If we play like that we won't beat Leinster. They're probably a better side than Irish with more world-class players."