Ulster boss Richie Murphy praised the effort of his side, despite coming off second-best against a ruthless Leinster team in Dublin on Saturday afternoon; a defeat that ended the northern province’s season at the quarter-final stage of the URC.
The 43-20 defeat at the hands of the Champions Cup runners-up was the second time in as many seasons that Ulster have exited the league play-off at the quarter-final stage, following last year’s defeat by Connacht.
Although the result may not have raised many eyebrows, fans and neutrals alike would have been impressed with the endeavour and “heads-up” rugby that was on display at the Aviva by Murphy’s side. An air of anticipation has now descended upon the Kingspan for next season that had all but disappeared prior to the Wicklow-man’s appointment in March.
Yet, there was a certain foreboding in the early stages of Saturday’s game as Ulster pummelled the Leinster 22 hard in the opening 20 minutes, yet came away scoreless, only for the hosts to punish them on a rare counterattack through a Robbie Henshaw try. James Lowe scored a second for the Blues as they went into the sheds 17-0 to the good, before he added a second in the second half, with Jordan Larmour, Josh Van der Flier and Ross Molony also crossing the whitewash to set up a semi-final date with the Bulls next week in Pretoria.
Ulster to their credit never gave up and scored three of their own second half tries courtesy of Dave McCann, Stewart Moore and Mike Lowry. Murphy acknowledged after the game that his side must become more efficient by taking points when inside their opponents red zone.
“I thought we did a good job in the first 20 minutes, frustrated Leinster, got into a couple of areas and contests in their 22, but unfortunately we just couldn’t come away with the points that we wanted,” said Murphy.
“We were playing against a really good team but really proud of our lads they left everything out there, the effort was huge.
“The lads are disappointed, but I said to them there they shouldn’t be, they played against a really good team, and they made it very difficult for them.”
Murphy has had a frantic start to his tenure, travelling to South Africa and France and picking up more wins than defeats. Now that he is a permanent fixture on the touchline rather than an interim head coach, he is already looking forward to getting his first full season under his belt.
“Over the last number of the weeks, it is great to see where we’ve come to as a group and the tightness that has been formed, that comes from the players taking responsibility and driving the standard through training,” he said.
“I’m also delighted with the staff since coming in they’ve been unbelievably good, and the credit has to go to them.
“I’m looking forward to a break but on the back of that [performance] we’ll be ready to get back into it.”
Player-of-the-match Leinster-lock Joe McCarthy continued his rapid rise towards a starting Ireland berth in the summer tour of South Africa, and he credited the Ulstermen to be an improved opposition under the stewardship of Murphy.
“”Yeah, Ulster are a really tough side, Richie (Murphy) has taken them up a level, and they have some great young players, it wasn’t easy” he explained.
“The first half was a bit scrappy but we improved our attack in the second half.
“It’s class to be heading to South Africa next week. we will rest up and look forward to heading down there later in the week.”