California native Ronan Murphy played in Major League Rugby during the 2022 season, and again between 2024-2025. He represented the Austin Gilgronis (2022) and the Houston SaberCats (2024-2025).

A former USA U20 player and Rudy Scholz Award nominee, Murphy joined the Austin Gilgronis organisation after playing at Trinity College in Dublin. He earned 3 MLR caps (all starts) with the AGs in 2022 before the team was disqualified from the 2022 MLR season and ceased operations shortly after the season’s conclusion. Murphy signed with the American Raptors crossover team during their Fall season, and toured with the USA Falcons to Uruguay. He stayed with the Raptors for their inaugural season in Super Rugby Americas in 2023, earning a number of SRA Team of the Week selections.

On 5th October 2023, the Houston SaberCats announced the signing of Ronan Murphy for the 2024 MLR season, where he appeared in all 17 SaberCats games, starting 15 of them and scoring 6 tries, as well as gaining over 400m in possession and finishing T-8th in MLR Tackling, with 172 completed. The SaberCats finished as the top MLR team during the regular season with a record of 14-2, but were stunned by the Dallas Jackals in the Western Conference Semifinal, falling 22-34 to their Texas rivals.

On November 15th, 2024, the Houston SaberCats announced the return of Ronan Murphy for their 2025 campaign.

Achievements:

• T-8th in MLR Tackling: 2024 (172)
• MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 1