THOUGH THE TWO bonus points kept Ulster clinging on to eighth spot, this defeat meant that the province had now lost control of their destiny regarding making the URC playoffs.
With Munster facing the Lions in Saturday’s final round 18 game and requiring just a point to push Ulster into ninth and outside the playoffs, the odds looked stacked against the northern province.
As such, there was little Richie Murphy could really do except express his disappointment at losing to Glasgow – whose victory, coupled with Stormers coming unstuck in Cardiff, meant they finished top of the table – while turning attention towards next week and Ulster’s Challenge Cup final with Montpellier.
“I think we need to park this now and move on,” Murphy said after two tries from Zac Ward along with notable efforts by Ethan McIlroy and Jack Murphy had still ended with another loss in what has been a difficult league run-in.
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“We’ve been a bit unlucky in the league all the way through it, a couple of decisions have gone against us in quite a few games, which has got us to this stage where we sit on 52 points.
“It’s probably not going to be enough,” Murphy admitted even though the outcome had not been decided in terms of who completes the top eight.
“We’re bitterly disappointed about that. We’ve always said that one of our targets was to make sure that we were in the top eight, so in some ways we failed in that target (in terms of controlling that).
“But I suppose next week we have an opportunity to get back into Europe (and next season’s Champions Cup).
“Our full focus will be on preparing for a cup final, which is the first cup final we’ve been in since 2012.”
Murphy pointed out that while battling on two fronts is where Ulster ideally want to be, it throws up its own challenges.
“It’s not only difficult to balance on two fronts, but also the fact that you don’t get a break. I think it’s 10 weeks into a block now where we’ve played every week, so there’s no time for refreshment.
“Our team selections have to balance up what we need from a freshness point of view and what we need from a game time point of view. It’s a massive balancing act, but we’re bitterly disappointed to come away with a loss.”
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'We need to park this and move on' - Ulster face uncertain future in URC
THOUGH THE TWO bonus points kept Ulster clinging on to eighth spot, this defeat meant that the province had now lost control of their destiny regarding making the URC playoffs.
With Munster facing the Lions in Saturday’s final round 18 game and requiring just a point to push Ulster into ninth and outside the playoffs, the odds looked stacked against the northern province.
As such, there was little Richie Murphy could really do except express his disappointment at losing to Glasgow – whose victory, coupled with Stormers coming unstuck in Cardiff, meant they finished top of the table – while turning attention towards next week and Ulster’s Challenge Cup final with Montpellier.
“I think we need to park this now and move on,” Murphy said after two tries from Zac Ward along with notable efforts by Ethan McIlroy and Jack Murphy had still ended with another loss in what has been a difficult league run-in.
“We’ve been a bit unlucky in the league all the way through it, a couple of decisions have gone against us in quite a few games, which has got us to this stage where we sit on 52 points.
“It’s probably not going to be enough,” Murphy admitted even though the outcome had not been decided in terms of who completes the top eight.
“We’re bitterly disappointed about that. We’ve always said that one of our targets was to make sure that we were in the top eight, so in some ways we failed in that target (in terms of controlling that).
“But I suppose next week we have an opportunity to get back into Europe (and next season’s Champions Cup).
“Our full focus will be on preparing for a cup final, which is the first cup final we’ve been in since 2012.”
Murphy pointed out that while battling on two fronts is where Ulster ideally want to be, it throws up its own challenges.
“It’s not only difficult to balance on two fronts, but also the fact that you don’t get a break. I think it’s 10 weeks into a block now where we’ve played every week, so there’s no time for refreshment.
“Our team selections have to balance up what we need from a freshness point of view and what we need from a game time point of view. It’s a massive balancing act, but we’re bitterly disappointed to come away with a loss.”
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