URC: Connacht 7 Ulster 17
A “huge” victory for Ulster. Without several key players, Richie Murphy’s side delivered a convincing victory over a shell-shocked Connacht at Dexcom Stadium – a result which propelled the northern province into the prized top eight of the United Rugby Championship.
Although Connacht’s losing margin was just 10, they failed to gain a single championship point from the home fixture, dropping to 13th of 16 in the URC table – the difference between winning and losing.
It was all the more rewarding for Murphy, whose side had been on a run of losses and missing key personnel for the festive interprovincial, including Rob Herring who was withdrawn shortly before kick-off.
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“We were missing a lot of experience, so for those guys to come in and do as well as they did, and those young backs to stand up and play against the likes of Bundee (Aki) and Mack (Hansen) is massively satisfying for us.
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“We didn’t give them a minute on the ball defensively. We put a lot of pressure on them. A lot of that credit has to go to Jonny Bell (Ulster defence coach).”
There was sufficient experience in the pack with Kieran Threadwell, Matt Rea and Nick Timoney – two of their tries “delivered on the back of good forward carries” – but it was Ulster’s young backline which fronted up, particularly in defence.
[ Ulster young guns impress to end losing streak against ConnachtOpens in new window ]
“They are going to take a little bit of time to get used to the speed of the game and how they can bring others into the game, but both Ben Carson and Jude Postlethwaite were very strong defensively,” said Murphy.
“I thought Jack [Murphy] put us in a couple of different good places, and Nathan Doak had an incredible game. His clearance kicking and his pressure coming through the battle line was incredible.”
Several key players, including James Hume and Ethan McElroy, are close to return, which Murphy expects will add to Ulster’s URC ascent.
“We’ve got a lot of top quality players missing, but these guys have been given an opportunity and what every coach wants is competition within their squad, so that will help us. And the challenge for these guys is the level they played at – [with] intensity and commitment – is to do that week-in week-out, but also tidy up some areas of attack.”
Yet it was a mixed result for the Murphy household – the head coach and his son Jack on the winning side with Ulster while Murphy’s older son Ben felt the sting of defeat with Connacht.
Admitting it was “definitely a bit of a challenge”, Murphy added: “Myself and Stephanie, my wife, are incredibly proud of the two boys. This time last year, we were sitting in Bray. Ben was involved with Leinster, Jack was playing with the Irish 20s, and we had no idea the two lads would be playing in a URC game in Galway. So it’s a very interesting story. We’re extremely proud of both of them.”
Connacht are now left licking their ever-deepening wounds. Despite dominating possession and territory, Wilkins’ side failed to front up physically. It puts them in a tough position, 25 points off leaders Leinster with just three wins from nine games. Although just four points separate the top eight teams, Connacht’s season has nosedived despite earlier expectations.
“Certainly performance-wise we were well behind Ulster,” said Wilkins. “The score line reflects that.”
“They dominated the physical exchanges, particularly when they got into our attacking 22. We physically didn’t win enough collisions to make them go deep enough into the phases. I think the scores came too easily for them, that gave them belief, that gave them momentum.”
The minds of Connacht supporters will likely now turn to Europe, the province leading pool one of the Challenge Cup after two bonus-point wins, offering the potential of both silverware and a path to Champions Cup rugby. But the URC remains the province’s bread and butter, and Wilkins believes there is still time to resurrect their campaign.
“I don’t think we’ll be writing off the URC. I think where we find ourselves, and certainly the last two weeks has been an enormous blow, but we certainly won’t be writing it off with half the games to come.
“We’ve dug ourselves out of holes before and progressed late in the competition, so in that sense I don’t think there’ll be any change of intent around it. We’ve got off to a good start in the Challenge Cup. We’re trying to target that at the same time, so the focus won’t change, but certainly we will need some picking up from this result and from this performance.”
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