THOUGH IT was an important win to bank as the URC breaks for the first three rounds of the Six Nations, there was a mixture of satisfaction, relief and frustration about Ulster’s 21-14 result over Cardiff.
Richie Murphy projected all these emotions in the aftermath and pointed out that the second-half score, which helped the hosts over the line — they only managed seven points after leading 14-0 at half-time — was a particularly notable piece of business.
“(We’re) delighted, obviously, to get the win, but we made hard work of it, especially in the second half,” he said after Ulster ended up fourth in the table.
“Scott Wilson, 60 odd minutes into the game, got a good nudge on the tight head (side of the scrum) and we were quite dynamic in our play and got, I think it was Charlie (Irvine) over.
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“That’s very satisfying. The way we’re trying to play the game, you can see we moved the ball reasonably well at times and other times we got a little bit sticky in the middle of the park.
“The endeavour is there,” Murphy said of his side, who were missing 10 players at Ireland camp, though Cardiff, who had beaten Ulster earlier in the season in the Challenge Cup, were in a similar situation regarding their national commitments.
“I think everyone who comes to see us sees a team that’s trying to play an attacking brand of rugby. The more time we spend together, the more work we do, hopefully, we can keep moving this team forward.
“Seven out of 10 can be a little bit more than that next time out,” he added of the province finishing off this block with victories (albeit they were awarded the result against the Cheetahs), outweighing the reverses.
“What’s frustrating is that we were on the goal line,” Murphy said of the closing stages against Cardiff when Ulster failed to score and claim a bonus point result.
“If we’re a little bit calmer and we’re willing to work just a little bit harder to go through the phases and get ourselves organised a little bit better, I think we score a try.
“If we had picked up that fourth try and five points, we would be sitting here really happy.
“We knew Cardiff would come back, but, overall, we’re delighted with the win, and we’re a little bit frustrated obviously not to pick up the bonus point towards the end.”
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Relief for Ulster after laboured Cardiff victory
THOUGH IT was an important win to bank as the URC breaks for the first three rounds of the Six Nations, there was a mixture of satisfaction, relief and frustration about Ulster’s 21-14 result over Cardiff.
Richie Murphy projected all these emotions in the aftermath and pointed out that the second-half score, which helped the hosts over the line — they only managed seven points after leading 14-0 at half-time — was a particularly notable piece of business.
“(We’re) delighted, obviously, to get the win, but we made hard work of it, especially in the second half,” he said after Ulster ended up fourth in the table.
“Scott Wilson, 60 odd minutes into the game, got a good nudge on the tight head (side of the scrum) and we were quite dynamic in our play and got, I think it was Charlie (Irvine) over.
“That’s very satisfying. The way we’re trying to play the game, you can see we moved the ball reasonably well at times and other times we got a little bit sticky in the middle of the park.
“The endeavour is there,” Murphy said of his side, who were missing 10 players at Ireland camp, though Cardiff, who had beaten Ulster earlier in the season in the Challenge Cup, were in a similar situation regarding their national commitments.
“I think everyone who comes to see us sees a team that’s trying to play an attacking brand of rugby. The more time we spend together, the more work we do, hopefully, we can keep moving this team forward.
“Seven out of 10 can be a little bit more than that next time out,” he added of the province finishing off this block with victories (albeit they were awarded the result against the Cheetahs), outweighing the reverses.
“What’s frustrating is that we were on the goal line,” Murphy said of the closing stages against Cardiff when Ulster failed to score and claim a bonus point result.
“If we’re a little bit calmer and we’re willing to work just a little bit harder to go through the phases and get ourselves organised a little bit better, I think we score a try.
“If we had picked up that fourth try and five points, we would be sitting here really happy.
“We knew Cardiff would come back, but, overall, we’re delighted with the win, and we’re a little bit frustrated obviously not to pick up the bonus point towards the end.”
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