ULSTER HEAD COACH Richie Murphy was already thinking about the next game after the bonus point defeat of Stade Francais had meant the province topped Pool Three and earned a last 16 home knockout tie in the European Challenge Cup.
Murphy was keen to park Ulster’s 26-19 victory over the Parisians and focus instead on going to Wales next weekend to face the Scarlets in the URC.
“We’ve achieved what we set out to do in this competition,” Murphy said of guaranteeing a home tie for the last 16 and if that is won then another date at the Affidea Stadium for the quarterfinals.
“We’ve got to move on to the URC with two more massive games (Scarlets away and Cardiff at home).”
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Murphy also referenced the selection of Ireland’s Six Nations and A squad next week being important for his players and something that would not distract from the job of going after more wins in the league with two rounds to go before the break for the internationals.
“There’s obviously going to be news in and around Irish squads and what will that do to us, and will we get more in, less in,” he added.
“But it’s really important that we get our heads down and focus on what are two massive (URC) games in relation to our season going forward.”
Referencing the home win over Stade, achieved only after Ulster’s commanding-looking four-try 26-0 half-time lead had been chipped away in the second 40 minutes, Murphy said: “We’ve had plenty of games this year where we’ve come in at half-time behind and we’ve blown people away in the second half.
“This time we started really well and didn’t finish the second half as well,” he added of Ulster failing to score at all from the midway point on.
“This is part of rugby and sometimes you’ve just got to roll your sleeves up and get stuck in and find a way to win.
Though Ulster’s set-pieces were under pressure, their attacking play in the opening half tore Stade apart. However, the second half was an entirely different story and Ulster were hanging on at the end.
“Our set-piece came under pressure; everyone could see that. The lads are disappointed how that panned out through the game.
“But it’s nice to look back at it knowing that we still have the win, topped the table, and move on to the next stage.”
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'We’ve achieved what we set out to do in this competition' - Richie Murphy
ULSTER HEAD COACH Richie Murphy was already thinking about the next game after the bonus point defeat of Stade Francais had meant the province topped Pool Three and earned a last 16 home knockout tie in the European Challenge Cup.
Murphy was keen to park Ulster’s 26-19 victory over the Parisians and focus instead on going to Wales next weekend to face the Scarlets in the URC.
“We’ve achieved what we set out to do in this competition,” Murphy said of guaranteeing a home tie for the last 16 and if that is won then another date at the Affidea Stadium for the quarterfinals.
“We’ve got to move on to the URC with two more massive games (Scarlets away and Cardiff at home).”
Murphy also referenced the selection of Ireland’s Six Nations and A squad next week being important for his players and something that would not distract from the job of going after more wins in the league with two rounds to go before the break for the internationals.
“There’s obviously going to be news in and around Irish squads and what will that do to us, and will we get more in, less in,” he added.
“But it’s really important that we get our heads down and focus on what are two massive (URC) games in relation to our season going forward.”
Referencing the home win over Stade, achieved only after Ulster’s commanding-looking four-try 26-0 half-time lead had been chipped away in the second 40 minutes, Murphy said: “We’ve had plenty of games this year where we’ve come in at half-time behind and we’ve
“This time we started really well and didn’t finish the second half as well,” he added of Ulster failing to score at all from the midway point on.
“This is part of rugby and sometimes you’ve just got to roll your sleeves up and get stuck in and find a way to win.
Though Ulster’s set-pieces were under pressure, their attacking play in the opening half tore Stade apart. However, the second half was an entirely different story and Ulster were hanging on at the end.
“Our set-piece came under pressure; everyone could see that. The lads are disappointed how that panned out through the game.
“But it’s nice to look back at it knowing that we still have the win, topped the table, and move on to the next stage.”
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