The Birch Edition: Mercury guest editor meets Leicester Tigers club captain Geordan Murphy

Leicester Mercury guest editor Alan Birchenall meets up with Leicester Tigers club captain Geordan Murphy to discuss inspirations, goose-stepping like David Campese and his love of Mumford and Sons.

Birch: Other than Tigers, which is your favourite Leicester team?

Geordan: I know quite a few of the cricket boys. I see them out and about and I'll always have a good chat to them. But I like to see the city of Leicester doing well.

Beach or skiing?

Skiing.

Your finest moment?

My first cap for Ireland.

Who do you most admire in Leicestershire sport?

Probably Martin Johnson for all he achieved while on the field and the way he has handled himself in the wake of resigning from the England manager's role. He's been very dignified.

Who or what is your greatest love?

My greatest love would be my girlfriend, definitely.

Favourite music or artist?

I'm really enjoying Munford and Sons at the minute. Actually, one of my biggest regrets is not going on tour with them. I know some of the boys in the band and I met them at the airport two years ago when they were going out to America to launch their first single. Tom Croft and I were going to Philadelphia for a rugby thing and they told me to fly down to Texas and go on tour with them for two weeks but I said no.

Soaps or Question Time?

I will go Question Time as I don't watch soaps at all.

Would you do I'm a Celebrity: Get Me Out of Here?

Yeah, I think so. I don't know if I could eat those witchetty grubs, but I would like to try.

What was the first record you bought?

It was probably something by U2, not sure which though.

Who inspired you when you were first starting out?

I was inspired by people like David Campese and Serge Blanco. When I was a little kid, I remember admiring the way they played, they threw it around and had an arrogance about them, and they played with a bit of a strut.

When I was younger, I can remember trying to do goose-steps like Campese.

Which team/athlete/musician would you pay to see?

What I would love to go and see, which I haven't yet, is American Football and the Superbowl.

Favourite TV show?

I watched Game of Thrones recently. I didn't think I would like it at all but I really enjoyed it.

Favourite book?

I do read quite a bit. I read anything. Probably my favourite book is one called Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. It is a really good book.

Favourite film?

I do like films but I haven't been to the cinema recently. The last one I saw I Give It a Year, it's a British comedy and it was quite funny. Stephen Merchant was in it. Before that, it was Skyfall

Biggest sporting thrill of 2012?

Probably the 100m final at the Olympics. It was an unbelievable day. The atmosphere was absolutely amazing. I saw Bolt win and he is just ridiculously quick.

Full English, cereal or fruit?

Full English, well, full Irish, actually. We have got white and black pudding to go with ours. Not hash browns , we don't really do them.

Alton Towers or Rutland Water?

That's a tough question because I do love a day out at Alton Towers but Rutland Water is really nice to wind down. I'll go for Alton Towers.

If you could change one thing in sport what would it be?

I would make a rule in football where if someone dived and the referee didn't spot it, the other players were allowed to kick him while he's on the ground and until he gets back to his feet.

It's ridiculously frustrating watching guys dive or play to a position where they know they've lost control so they just go down.

What makes you laugh?

Silly humour – I laugh most of the time. I broke myself laughing at Louis Deacon earlier this morning because he is so hard and I always try and wind him up and say something to him every day. Usually, he just ignores me as though I'm not even there but sometimes, like today, it gets to him and he'll bite and lose the plot.

What makes you angry?

What really annoys me are talentless people who become celebrities. I really hate that. Talentless people. I have no problem at all if you have got a skill, that's fine, but if you have been on a television show and you're an idiot, and have not got two brain cells to rub together, and all of a sudden you're famous, that really gets my goat.

Reporting by James Sharpe

• This article was written as part of "The Birch Edition". Leicester City legend Alan Birchenall Mercury editor for the day and made all the big decisions for the next day's paper.