The mastermind behind the greatest day in Leigh’s history is convinced the club are on the brink of eclipsing his Wembley miracle.
Alex Murphy was the inspirational and charismatic player-coach who led the north-west minnows to an unexpected Challenge Cup triumph in 1971.
In one of the competition’s greatest upsets, Murphy’s well-drilled side defied the odds to overpower a much-fancied Leeds 24-7 in the final at the national stadium.
Now, 52 years on, the recently-rebranded Leopards have a chance to emulate those achievements having plotted a similarly unlikely route to the showpiece match in their first season since returning to the top flight.
After years of struggle, mostly in the lower divisions with financial crises a recurring theme, the club are enjoying an extraordinary campaign. They sit third in Super League and on Saturday they take on Hull KR for one of the sport’s most prestigious prizes.
“They’ve had a good start to the season and it’s a great achievement to get there,” Murphy, now 84, told the PA news agency.
“There have been a lot of very tough times but Derek Beaumont, the chairman, deserves a big pat on the back. He has steered them through thick and thin.
“I think it will be a magnificent occasion. When I took Leigh to Wembley, there was nobody left in the town. It was a tremendous turnout but I think this one will be even better.
“I think it will be a hard game – Hull KR are a physical side – but the way Leigh are playing at the moment, they look as though they have got the ability to win. With the supporters’ help, they’ll do it.”
Murphy was one of greatest players the British game has ever produced, a dynamic scrum-half blessed with pace, vision and an astute tactical acumen that also made him a natural leader.
He burst onto the scene as a precocious teenager with hometown St Helens in the 1950s but, cocksure and not afraid to speak his mind, controversy was never far away.
He fell into dispute with Saints in 1966 and was placed on the transfer list. Leigh could not afford his fee but audaciously offered him their head coach’s job, which Saints were powerless to prevent.
Saints eventually had to cut their losses and release his playing registration too and Murphy went on to lead Leigh with verve and distinction on and off he field. That culminated with his Lance Todd Trophy-winning heroics in front of 85,514 at Wembley.
“The ’71 final was the greatest achievement of my career,” said Murphy, who had previously won the cup with Saints and later did so again with Warrington.
“They were big favourites but I never had any doubt whatsoever. One thing I had in life was confidence and all you’ve got to have with confidence is ability, and we had a lot of it. They didn’t realise that.”
The game is also remembered for featuring the first sending-off in a Challenge Cup final and, typically, Murphy was at the heart of events as Leeds captain Syd Hynes was dismissed.
What occurred has been the subject of dispute ever since, with the alleged off-the-ball headbutt from Hynes that left Murphy motionless on the turf frustratingly just out of the TV camera shot.
Folklore has it that Murphy winked as he was carried off on a stretcher before returning to the action seemingly unhurt a few minutes later. He has always denied he milked the situation but, with Hynes never backing down in his insistence he did little untoward, the argument continues to rumble.
“All I could see was him standing over me, telling me what he was going to do to me if I went back (on the field),” Murphy said.
“A lot of people said I winked at him when I was going off but the only thing I did was close my eyes.
“I think that made me more determined than ever. I thought, ‘We’ll see. You’ll be sorry you’ve done that’. And he was. He finished up getting a loser’s medal, so it kind of put it right.”
Springboks aiming to have 'two best teams in the world', says Esterhuizen
South Africa centre Andre Esterhuizen said that the Springboks are aiming to have "the two best teams in the world" ahead of their Autumn Nations Series clash against England.
The world champions were pushed all the way by Scotland in their narrow victory at Murrayfield on Sunday, though head coach Rassie Erasmus opted to rotate some key starting positions.
South Africa captain Siya Kolisi and flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit started on the bench, with the changes a common theme during Erasmus' seven-year tenure.
Their opening Autumn Nations Series victory also put them back on top of the world rankings after Ireland's first defeat in 19 home games by New Zealand on Friday.
"One of the good things is that everyone is getting game time now," Esterhuizen told the BBC's Rugby Union Weekly podcast.
"It is also about looking forward, you've got to be able to spare all the guys for the next World Cup and build experience into it.
"The aim is to have the two best teams in the world, all in one squad.
"We want to make it second nature for people slotting in, so if someone steps in, they can just slot in and play the same if not better than the other player."
South Africa next face England, who are yet to pick up a win this autumn, at Twickenham on Saturday.
Steve Borthwick's side suffered a narrow two-point defeat by New Zealand, before conceding an injury-time winning try to Australia on Saturday.
England have now lost each of their last four Test matches, their longest such run since losing five straight games in 2018, but Esterhuizen's former Harlequins team-mate Marcus Smith has been impressive for the Red Roses.
"It's a great space, I obviously love to play there," Esterhuizen added. "It will be great to be running at Marcus, not run off him.
"It's going to be a great match, England have played well in the last few games, it's unfortunate that it hasn't been the results that they want. I think it's going to be a big one."
The Springboks have won three of their last four matches against England (L1), including each of their last two. Three of the last five games between England and South Africa have been decided by single-point margins.
Ireland ready to respond after 'honest' New Zealand chat, says Hansen
Mack Hansen has backed Ireland to bounce back from their 23-13 defeat to New Zealand that saw their 19-game home winning streak come to an end.
The loss also saw Ireland tumble from atop the world rankings to third as the All Blacks repeated their World Cup quarter-final success from last year, and also marked New Zealand's first win on Irish soil since 2016.
Ireland had previously won 25 of their 26 home games under Andy Farrell, which was their longest run on home soil, with their latest defeat before last Friday coming against France in 2021 (13-15).
While questions have been asked of a team that have been beaten in three of their past five matches, Hansen was adamant that the mood is not dampened ahead of Friday’s visit of Argentina.
"People are always very eager to jump on you when you’re down. It’s like in South Africa, nobody gave them a hope after the first Test," said Hansen.
“And what happens? They come back and win it. That’s the best thing about this group. The outside noise is outside noise and nobody knows what goes on in here, how hard we work and how resilient we are.
"People can chat away. The people who know us know, unfortunately, it was one of those weeks [against New Zealand], but we’re ready to bounce back.”
Ireland's display was littered with errors against the All Blacks, which included 21 handling mistakes, 30 missed tackles and 13 penalties conceded at the Aviva Stadium.
But eradicating those mistakes could prove difficult when they face Argentina on Friday, who come into the encounter on the back of a 50-18 thrashing of Italy.
Ireland, however, have not lost to the Pumas since the 2015 World Cup quarter-final and have beaten them on the three subsequent occasions they have played in Dublin.
And Hansen is confident his team-mates can respond against Felipe Contepomi's side and continue their impressive run against Argentina.
“There weren’t really hard chats, just honest chats,” added Hansen on Monday's debrief.
"We came to the conclusion that it wasn’t good enough and also that it just wasn’t us.
"So this week we’re looking to right a lot of wrongs and no better place to do it then back in the Aviva in front of a home crowd."
'Brutal' Australia review exactly what England needed, says Sleightholme
Ollie Sleightholme described England's review of their late defeat to Australia as "brutal", but insisted it was exactly what the squad needed.
England had led by 12 points and then trailed by 10 in an end-to-end encounter, but Maro Itoje's 78th-minute try seemed to have settled matters by moving the hosts 37-35 ahead.
However, in the final play of the match, Len Ikitau found space and fed replacement wing Max Jorgensen, who settled the contest.
The result saw the Wallabies defeat England at the Allianz Stadium for the first time since the pool stages of the 2015 Rugby World Cup when they won 33-13, with their tally of 42 points the most they had scored away to the Red Roses.
The result was their second narrow defeat in the Autumn Nations Series after the two-point loss to New Zealand, and their fourth defeat in a row.
Sleightholme came on as a replacement and scored twice in the second half to register his first two international tries, but provided insight into what followed after the loss.
"It has been really good to chew the fat on what happened and really get a grasp of what we need to do and what needs to change," Sleightholme told BBC Sport.
"It was a brutal view and it needs to be. It was a case of getting it all out there and not shying away from any of it.
"At the end of the day we didn't get it done. It is a frustrating review and a frustrating game to look back on.
"We left some opportunities out there and we didn't nullify some of their attacks. There are a few things [to work on] in all areas."
Saturday marked the first time England have lost four Test matches in a row since 2018, when they suffered five straight defeats under Eddie Jones.
It is the fourth game in five matches that Steve Borthwick's side have fallen on the wrong side of the result during the final play.
It followed two close Tests against the All Blacks in July and a 33-31 defeat by France in their final game of this year's Six Nations.
On Saturday, England will face world champions South Africa, who defeated Scotland in their opening match of the autumn series on Sunday.
"We're testing fans' patience, testing our patience," said England's Ben Earl. "It feels like we won the game twice against Australia and then managed to lose it. Frustrating.
"Not the same old problems, different problems, but the same overwhelming feeling of another game that we've let slip. So food for thought."
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