rugby union
Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
player who played lock for
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
. He was at one time the record caps holder for Scotland having represented them on 87 occasions, five of which as captain and playing at three
World Cups
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...
. He also toured with the
British & Irish Lions
The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...
and won Scotland player of the season three times. He is the former head coach of the San Diego Legion of
Major League Rugby
Major League Rugby (MLR) is a professional rugby union competition in the United States. The league comprises 11 teams. While operating outside of the governance and oversight of the national governing body, the league is officially sanctioned ...
(MLR).
Club career
Murray is a former Scottish school basketball international who attended
Morgan Academy
Morgan Academy is a Secondary School, secondary school in the Stobswell area of Dundee, Scotland. Morgan Academy was founded in 1889 and is the second oldest state school in Dundee behind Harris Academy.
History
The building was designed in 18 ...
and
Preston Lodge High School
Preston Lodge High School is a six-year non-denominational school located in Prestonpans, Scotland. It serves students from Cockenzie, Port Seton, Prestonpans,Longniddry
Longniddry (, )Preston Lodge RFC and
Edinburgh Academicals
Edinburgh Academical Football Club, also known as Edinburgh Accies, is a rugby union club in Edinburgh, Scotland. The club is currently a member of the Scottish Premiership (rugby union), Scottish Premiership, the top tier of Scottish club rugby ...
before moving to England to help
Bedford
Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district.
Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...
Saracens
file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens
''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...
and
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
before joining French team US Montauban following the
2007 Rugby World Cup
The 2007 Rugby World Cup () was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by F ...
. In July 2010 he joined
Castres
Castres (; ''Castras'' in the Languedocian dialect, Languedocian dialect of Occitan language, Occitan) is the sole Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Tarn (department), Tarn Departments of France, department in the Occitania (adminis ...
after Montauban were liquidated due to financial problems.
Murray left Castres in June 2012 to join newly promoted
Mont-de-Marsan
Mont-de-Marsan (; Gascon dialect, Occitan: ''Lo Mont de Marçan'') is a communes of France, commune and capital of the Landes (department), Landes Departments of France, department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France.
Population
Milit ...
based side Stade Montois. In December, with two years still left on his playing contract, he was appointed as forwards coach following a reshuffle at the club that saw previous coach Marc Dantin moved to other duties. Mont-de-Marsan were relegated from the Top 14 at the end of the season finishing bottom of the table having only managed to win two games.
National honours
Murray's debut for Scotland came against
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
on 22 November 1997 and he won the 1998–99 Scotland player of the season in the year when Scotland won the final
Five Nations Championship
The Six Nations Championship (known as the Six Nations, branded as Guinness M6N) is an annual international rugby union competition by the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. It is the oldest sports tournament contes ...
.
Since then he has won this honour a further two times in 2001–02 and 2002–03 and gained selection for the
British & Irish Lions
The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...
2003 Rugby World Cup
The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England national rugby union team, England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispu ...
Countdown Test against
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
he captained the side from the start for the first time when he won his 50th cap.
Murray started all three Autumn Tests in November 2005 and became Scotland's most capped player of all time, when on 10 March 2007, he collected his 83rd Test cap, surpassing Gregor Townsend's previous record of 82 caps. He has collected another four caps since (the last being against the
All Blacks
The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...
in the
2007 Rugby World Cup
The 2007 Rugby World Cup () was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by F ...
) and held the national record until 14 June 2008, when Chris Paterson won his 88th cap.
Murray failed to make the initial 2008 Six Nations Championship squad, though he was later added but did not feature in any games.
Low point
During the Six Nations Scotland v
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
game at the
Millennium Stadium
The Millennium Stadium (), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium () for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it has a retractable roof and is the home of the Wales national rugby union team; it has ...
on 12 February 2006 Murray was sent off by referee Steve Walsh after he perceived that Murray retaliated by lashing out with his boot following a late tackle by Ian Gough. His sending off was seen as a decisive point in the game that Wales won 28–18.
Murray became only the second Scotland player ever to be sent off (the other being second row colleague Nathan Hines) and was subsequently banned for three weeks, after an unsuccessful appeal, meaning he would miss the upcoming
Calcutta Cup
The Calcutta Cup is the trophy awarded to the winner of the rugby match between teams of England and Scotland played annually in the Six Nations Championship. Like the match itself (England–Scotland), the Calcutta Cup is the oldest trophy con ...
game.
Coaching career
In 2018 Murray took up a coaching role at San Diego Legion in the US Major League Rugby.
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...