Coach Richie Murphy said he was “very satisfied” with Ulster’s win over Leinster to secure a place in the United Rugby Championship (URC) play-offs. He has felt as complete as he has since arriving at Kingspan Stadium.
The former Ireland U20s coach signed a permanent two-year contract earlier this week after taking over as interim manager following Dan McFarland’s sacking in February.
At the time of McFarland’s dismissal the region were eighth in the table but had lost three of Murphy’s first four games in all competitions before a 23-21 win over the Investec Champions Cup finalists sealed by John Cooney’s late penalty to lift them to Ulster’s fourth place. We achieved back-to-back wins.
They have guaranteed a place in the play-offs with a URC round left to play, but there is still work to be done if the Sharks are to book a place in next season’s Champions Cup if they beat Gloucester in the European Challenge Cup final on Friday.
“Going into the game, I thought we could get a few points and make the playoffs, but if everyone else was winning, we had to win,” Murphy said.
“I’m very satisfied. The crowd has been unbelievable supporting the team and it feels like we’ve been getting better over the last few weeks.
“Compared to where we started, you can see everything coming together. Even though there were still a lot of mistakes, it was probably our most complete accomplishment.
“Our goal was to make the playoffs, but it was our performance that got us there.
“We are delighted to be involved in this competition, it is great. We will try to qualify for the Champions Cup but who knows what will happen in the final next week.”
