ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, the brand new Ulster coach Richie Murphy saw plenty of grounds for optimism after his team lost 22-12 to the Sharks in sweaty Durban.

“Look, we are disappointed that we did not get the result but we have been together for only three training sessions and a 24-hour travel day,” said Murphy, who took office on Monday.

“We knew we were in for a tough time when we learned that a host of their big-name Springboks were coming back, anytime you come to South Africa you will be in for a very physical test, but we got some Ireland boys back ourselves and I am proud of how we stayed in the fight.

“We were working off about 30 percent of possession,” Murphy continued. “That makes it difficult and even with what we had we did not look after it well enough.

“I thought early in the game we put some phases together and caused them some trouble but in the second quarter, they slowed us down and we did not look after the ball.”

Conditions in the east coast city did not favour the tourists. It is still muggy and hot in KwaZulu-Natal and the Sharks have the advantage of living and training in steamy conditions that make the ball as slippery as soap.

“It was very humid and the Irish boys are not used to that. I think it might account for some of the knock-ons — you have the ball and it squirts out of your grasp because of the sweat,” Murphy said.

Ulster move on to Cape Town for another tough assignment against the Stormers, the former champions, and Murphy says the week ahead will be used constructively.

“Over the next few weeks, we want to add some things to our game. We feel that coming in, there are certain areas we can improve that will help us get back our confidence.

“We can get better on attack where I feel we are stopping at the gain line. There are a few things we can do differently to correct that and get more go-forward.”

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