INTERIM COACH RICHIE Murphy has commended Ulster’s fighting spirit while calling for greater levels of accuracy in the wake of two defeats in South Africa.
Ulster went down 13-7 to the Stormers in Cape Town on Saturday night. The result marks their second-straight loss in South Africa – following a 22-12 defeat to the Sharks in Durban a week earlier. They return to Ireland with one log point to add to their United Rugby Championship tally.
In the wake of the match in Cape Town, Murphy said that the recent results and performances need to be viewed in context.
It’s been a challenging period for the club, with Murphy taking charge following the departure of Dan McFarland in February. What’s more, South Africa is a notoriously difficult place to tour.
“We wanted to get more than one log point from the tour, but I though the players were brilliant,” he said. “The hunger they showed tonight was incredible, particularly on defence: the way they worked back and covered for one another.
“I’m really happy with that, but at the same time we know that the accuracy is not where it needs to be. There are five games left [during the URC league phase], so we fortunately we are still in the mix [for the playoffs].”
Munster beat the Stormers twice at the Cape Town Stadium last season. They remain the only side to beat the Stormers at this venue.
On Saturday, Ulster came within a score of making history. They led 7-0 at half-time, and if not for a less accurate performance in the second half, they may well have claimed a prized South African scalp.
Murphy revealed that Steven Kitshoff, the former Stormers captain who joined Ulster at the start of the season, was especially disappointed with the result.
“I’ve only been in the job for two weeks, but I can see how great he’s been for Ulster, and for me, I’ve really enjoyed working with him,” Murphy said, “I felt for him at the end, he would have loved to come here and win.
“The Stormers missed a couple of kicks in the first half, as did we. When we went to the break with a seven-point lead, I thought that was a fair reflection, but also felt that both teams could have scored more points.
“The Stormers got a bit more ball in the second half, and the 50/50 calls went their way. They caused us a few problems when they got a bit more width on the ball, and when they started pinning us back in our own half.
“We didn’t exit as well in the second half as we did in the first. I thought we improved from the Sharks game last week, but unfortunately the accuracy wasn’t quite there.”
The Stormers will host La Rochelle in the first round of the Champions Cup next week.
Meanwhile, Ulster will travel to France to tackle Montpellier in a European Challenge Cup Round of 16 clash.
“We’ll fly out of South Africa tomorrow and give the boys a few days off, and then all the focus will shift to that game,” said Murphy.
“It’s another hostile venue, they have a very good home record there. It’s another physical side, and another massive test for us – but it would be fantastic to come through that and advance to the quarter-finals.”