Farewell to scrums and hello to crumbs

Life after rugby sees Jonny Murphy forging a new career in the kitchen

Jonny Murphy had just turned 30 and, knowing his time in Connacht was coming to an end, was facing an anxious wait regarding his next move until a neurosurgeon stepped in and made the decision for him.

Murphy vividly recalls the sense of relief and excitement he felt on a Monday morning a couple of years ago when he got word that he had been offered a contract in France, but unfortunately the joy was short-lived.

The following day, he travelled to Birmingham to visit a specialist who deals with concussion, and even though he had been struggling after suffering a few blows to the head, he wasn’t prepared for Professor Tony Belli’s fateful words: “I am advising [that] you finish up.”

Sitting there stunned, Murphy’s mind began to race. How had he gone from looking forward to playing in the south of France to being forced to retire in the space of 24 hours? What would he do next? From his early days playing with Banbridge and Ballynahinch, then the Ulster academy, all he had known was rugby. He should have been entering the prime of his career, yet here he was, dazed, confused and, ultimately, scared.

“It all happened very quickly, and maybe in a way that was a blessing because it was sort of like ripping the band-aid off, but I was all over the shop,” Murphy says.

“I am open with the whole thing now. I had a panic attack and stuff. I didn’t know what was going on.

Luckily with rugby, we learn about resilience and to keep the head down and keep going. Rugby Players Ireland were great. If you need to, you can talk to a psychologist and work through stuff.

“The specialist told me, ‘You’ll look back in a year and be like. F**k me, what was going on?’ I don’t know how to describe it, it’s a very odd feeling, but it sort of happened very quickly and I just went for the baking thing.”

Murphy’s concussion-related problems began before Covid. Hooker being such an attritional position, bumps and bruises were part of the deal, which Murphy accepted.

However, when what he felt were innocuous blows to the head were causing more significant problems. He knew he could no longer ignore the worrying symptoms.

“I was having a few issues,” he recalls. “I have obviously been knocked out and had concussions like any of

us [players]. I wasn’t even taking big hits, but every other week I’d get a glance or a knock. I had a visual aura and couldn’t focus. Everything was double. I got searing headaches. I was feeling real shitty for a while.

“Covid obviously stopped everything and then I saw a neurologist in Dublin and he thought it was one thing. I started back playing and was fine for a while, but then the symptoms started back again. I was worried about it, so I saw Tony Belli in Birmingham, he’s the top lad in Europe, if not the world.

“It’s one of those things, obviously they don’t know the be all and end all, but he said ‘I am advising you for your health to stop playing.’

“I have always struggled with anxiety and my mental health when I was growing up.

“Obviously at the time it’s shit, but you learn a lot. I don’t want to say it makes you stronger but you can deal with a lot more.

“At times I was petrified going out to play because I was like ‘shit, if this happens again, am I going to have to stop playing or what?’

“I obviously loved my time playing, but I would be a nervous and anxious kind of guy. The older I got, I was like, ‘Just go out and enjoy it.’ But at the same time I was really worried about concussion.”

Murphy’s anxiety was exacerbated by the fact that he felt he couldn’t avoid the increasing number of harrowing testimonies from former players, who are suffering on the back of repeated concussive blows.

The former Ireland under 20 international, who played six games for Ulster, 21 for Connacht and 23 for Rotherham Titans, is 32 now and thankfully in a good place, but he knows he must keep on top of his mental health.

Since hanging up his boots, Murphy has become an online sensation. His ‘Hungry Hooker’ baking videos are proving to be a real hit, as he immerses himself in an entirely new world.

The change of scenery has helped him move on from rugby, but it’s a daily battle, especially when other ex-players’ struggles come to light.

“I had to avoid them, if you know what I mean? It’s funny, your phone knows what you’re thinking, so the stories were popping up everywhere.

I was like, ‘Aw, shit.’ It obviously makes you think a lot. I had balance and vestibular issues even when I finished and I did vestibular rehab. At the moment I’m good, but that’s the thing, there are lads who have played their whole career and never had a concussion, so to speak, and they have issues. So, it’s just about keeping myself in good nick. That’s what Tony Belli said.

“Obviously as rugby players, everything is 100 miles an hour — training, matches and then whenever you do get to let your hair down. It could be a big night out with the lads, it’s the same fast pace. Tony Belli was saying, it’s not about being fit for your 30s, it’s [about] being fit for life. I watch games now and I’m like ‘I’d love to be out there.’ You don’t realise it at the time but you let off so much steam by training and playing.

“But I don’t miss waking up on a Sunday broken into pieces or your neck is sore. The bit you miss is spending time with such a big group of mates who are all part of the same team, working towards the same goal every day.”

Nowadays, Murphy’s ‘team’ includes his granny Mamie Beckett, who is regularly stopped on the street on the back of the online baking videos with Jonny.

Murphy is enjoying this new chapter in his life and the chance to get to spend more time with his family. He is currently between Galway — where he supplies cafes with freshly baked goods — and his hometown of Craigavon, where he is setting up a new kitchen in the hope of expanding the business.

“I didn’t realise it at the time, but baking was a form of mindfulness for me. It all started with a coffee morning for the Galway Hospice before Covid. I had made some stuff and the lads were like, ‘Oh, who made these?’ When they found out it was me, they were like, ‘F**k off! You didn’t make these!’

“It sort of became a thing then. Our tough training day was Tuesday and I’d make a few wee bits to have at lunch with a coffee.

“The lads in Connacht went mad for fifteens [a classic Northern Irish cake]. Tommy Farrell did his ACL and I brought a big batch of 30 or 40 around to him. He polished them, he was in double figures just sitting there! A few other lads came around to see how he was and Seánie O’Brien arrived and hid the fifteens in the cupboard for himself!

“You know yourself, Galway can be a bit bleak in the winter, so it was a wee bit of a morale boost for the lads. Then Covid hit and my housemate at the time, Jack Carty, and my girlfriend were like. ‘You should set up a wee social media page.’

“Coffee shops started reaching out but I had to tell them I was still playing and studying. I met a guy named Kevin Nugent and he had my stuff in his coffee shops. As time went on, the lads were all like ‘You should give it a rattle when you finish up playing.’ I didn’t think much of it at the time, and then everything happened, so I thought, you know what, I am going to give it a go and see where it takes me.”

As for his new found fame in a world that was once completely alien to him, Murphy laughs: “As my mates constantly remind me, I am just a wee f **king lad from the sticks!”

But there is a deep sense of satisfaction in his baking, not just from a personal point of view, but in how it has helped many of his thousands of social media followers.

Murphy regularly receives messages from people who were going through a tough time themselves, until his heart-warming videos helped them rediscover their love of baking.

Then there is the impact that baking has had on his family, especially his grandparents Mamie and Alfie, who also became a viral star when Jonny made a poignant video with him at Ireland’s recent Women’s Six Nations game at Twickenham.

As soon as his new kitchen at home is up and running, Murphy plans to go into the postal side of the business, and while he will continue making recipe videos, he is particularly relishing the chance to make an e-book with Mamie, who will always be his inspiration.

“I’d be up home every couple of weekends baking with my nanny, but unfortunately just as I retired, my uncle Nigel suddenly passed away,” Murphy adds. “Obviously that was tough for everyone, but especially for my nanny and granda because he was their son.

“She would have baked on a weekly basis, whether it was soda bread or a wee batch of buns or a cake, but she sort of stopped, which was understandable.

“She came down to Galway for a couple of days afterwards, and she said to me: ‘Do you want a hand with the baking? We will make a wee recipe.’ Ever since then, it turned into a thing where it gave them another lease of life as well, which has been nice.

“It’s a bit like reliving my childhood, getting to bake with my granny. And without realising, baking has been like therapy.”

You don’t realise it at the time, but you let off so much steam by training and playing.