IT TOOK A while for them to get going, but when Ulster hit their stride in Galway yesterday, they did so to devastating effect.
Having barely set foot in the Connacht half for most of the opening 40 minutes, two late first-half tries left Richie Murphy’s team two points up at the break, taking control of the game before building on their advantage after the interval.
They had to endure a cagey finish as Connacht eventually rallied back, but overall, a 29-24 win represented a satisfying night for a team who are keeping pace with the league’s leading sides midway through the season.
“Yeah, absolutely delighted,” Murphy said.
“Cagey enough sort of first 10 or 15 minutes and then obviously Connacht got that early score and then get another one. So to get back in at 12-10 at halftime, I thought we actually played some really good rugby in that second period of that half where we started moving the ball and bringing some of our big outside backs into the game, you know, they’re a handful for any team.
When you look at the way the game panned out in that first half, it was statistically quite unusual. I mean, 60% territory to Connacht, yet they’re trailing by two points.
“We played into the breeze in the first half. You guys mightn’t think the wind was that strong, but it was actually pretty effective as part of the game, we kicked early on, which was part of our plan, to try get some competition in the air in the backfield. There was loads of scraps knocking around, we just couldn’t quite get on the scraps, which was a little bit disappointing.
Advertisement
“And then when we did manage to get the ball early on, we ran into Connacht where, you know, in the back end of that second half we started moving the ball to space and we were much more effective with ball.”
Ulster scored 26 unanswered points between the 34th and 53rd minute, wrapping up the bonus point with less than an hour played having gone over half an hour before registering their first points of the game.
Ulster's David McCann and Joe Joyce of Connacht in the maul. Nick Elliott / INPHO
Nick Elliott / INPHO / INPHO
And while that mid-game burst pushed them into a strong position, Murphy still had to sit through a nervy ending as Connacht clawed back Ulster’s lead – cutting the deficit to just two points in the final minutes before Jack Murphy’s late penalty.
While happy with the win, Richie Murphy felt his team could have perhaps seen out the closing stages with a little more comfort.
“It’s a little bit disappointing, but you’re also very aware that we’re in Connacht and Connacht are hurting from last weekend, and they’re never going to give up without a fight.
“They get a couple of a calls go their way and get into your 22 and once they’re in there, it’s very hard to stop them. But I think a lot of credit has to go to Connacht, the way they finish the game. And you know, at the end we’re hanging on there.
“So we’ll look at it as a way of how do we get better in this final 20 minutes, and realistically, we’ve just got to keep doing the things we were doing in earlier in the half. We just kind of went into our shell a little bit and so it’s really important that we keep going (until the end of the game).”
The win leaves Ulster fifth in the URC table with a game in hand on fourth-place Munster, who sit three points ahead of the northern province. It presents Ulster with a massive opportunity to jump up the table when Munster visit Belfast this week.
“Munster next week is a is a totally different game,” Murphy said.
“We’ve been on the road for three weeks. In Cardiff, lost that game late, in Leinster lost that game late, so it was really important that we put our best foot forward today and I thought for the middle period of the game, sort of 20-25 minutes in the first half into 20-25 minutes in the second half, I thought we saw some of the quality of the rugby that we can play.
“We just need to tidy up in around those edges. Teams like Munster, teams like Leinster have a way of grinding games out, I suppose in some ways we’ve ground out today, but we’ve probably got a little bit too close for comfort.”
On the injury front, Murphy added that the injury which forced Juarno Augustus off doesn’t look as bad as first feared.
“It’s an ankle sprain. I’m not saying he’s going to be back next week, I don’t know at this point, but it’s not a series of as first looked.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
22 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
Murphy pleased as Ulster rally to show 'some of the quality rugby we can play'
IT TOOK A while for them to get going, but when Ulster hit their stride in Galway yesterday, they did so to devastating effect.
Having barely set foot in the Connacht half for most of the opening 40 minutes, two late first-half tries left Richie Murphy’s team two points up at the break, taking control of the game before building on their advantage after the interval.
They had to endure a cagey finish as Connacht eventually rallied back, but overall, a 29-24 win represented a satisfying night for a team who are keeping pace with the league’s leading sides midway through the season.
“Yeah, absolutely delighted,” Murphy said.
“Cagey enough sort of first 10 or 15 minutes and then obviously Connacht got that early score and then get another one. So to get back in at 12-10 at halftime, I thought we actually played some really good rugby in that second period of that half where we started moving the ball and bringing some of our big outside backs into the game, you know, they’re a handful for any team.
“We played into the breeze in the first half. You guys mightn’t think the wind was that strong, but it was actually pretty effective as part of the game, we kicked early on, which was part of our plan, to try get some competition in the air in the backfield. There was loads of scraps knocking around, we just couldn’t quite get on the scraps, which was a little bit disappointing.
“And then when we did manage to get the ball early on, we ran into Connacht where, you know, in the back end of that second half we started moving the ball to space and we were much more effective with ball.”
Ulster scored 26 unanswered points between the 34th and 53rd minute, wrapping up the bonus point with less than an hour played having gone over half an hour before registering their first points of the game.
And while that mid-game burst pushed them into a strong position, Murphy still had to sit through a nervy ending as Connacht clawed back Ulster’s lead – cutting the deficit to just two points in the final minutes before Jack Murphy’s late penalty.
While happy with the win, Richie Murphy felt his team could have perhaps seen out the closing stages with a little more comfort.
“It’s a little bit disappointing, but you’re also very aware that we’re in Connacht and Connacht are hurting from last weekend, and they’re never going to give up without a fight.
“They get a couple of a calls go their way and get into your 22 and once they’re in there, it’s very hard to stop them. But I think a lot of credit has to go to Connacht, the way they finish the game. And you know, at the end we’re hanging on there.
“So we’ll look at it as a way of how do we get better in this final 20 minutes, and realistically, we’ve just got to keep doing the things we were doing in earlier in the half. We just kind of went into our shell a little bit and so it’s really important that we keep going (until the end of the game).”
The win leaves Ulster fifth in the URC table with a game in hand on fourth-place Munster, who sit three points ahead of the northern province. It presents Ulster with a massive opportunity to jump up the table when Munster visit Belfast this week.
“Munster next week is a is a totally different game,” Murphy said.
“We’ve been on the road for three weeks. In Cardiff, lost that game late, in Leinster lost that game late, so it was really important that we put our best foot forward today and I thought for the middle period of the game, sort of 20-25 minutes in the first half into 20-25 minutes in the second half, I thought we saw some of the quality of the rugby that we can play.
“We just need to tidy up in around those edges. Teams like Munster, teams like Leinster have a way of grinding games out, I suppose in some ways we’ve ground out today, but we’ve probably got a little bit too close for comfort.”
On the injury front, Murphy added that the injury which forced Juarno Augustus off doesn’t look as bad as first feared.
“It’s an ankle sprain. I’m not saying he’s going to be back next week, I don’t know at this point, but it’s not a series of as first looked.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Connacht richie murphy Rugby that winning feeling Ulster URC