Ulster have to pick themselves up from the crushing blow of their 50-49 aggregate loss to Toulouse in their two-legged round of 16 Champions Cup game and with just a six-day turnaround before their crunch URC game tonight, Jordi Murphy admits it took the best of two days to do so.
“Saturday’s defeat was a pretty serious blow. I’d have to say it took about 24/48 hours. I didn’t do much talking and I’d say I wasn’t very pleasant to be around at home. But it’s happened in the past before where I’ve had big defeats and I probably haven’t bounced back quick enough.
"Then one of the things about rugby is that the games come thick and fast and they're always against tough opposition, so if you're caught napping it can drag out even longer," said Murphy, who cited the example of their painful 21-18 quarter-final defeat by Leinster in Europe three seasons ago when, six days later, Ulster were beaten 30-7 in Glasgow.
"The Champions Cup is the pinnacle competition in Europe," added Murphy. "But the league is massive for us as well. We're obviously a long time without silverware and we feel we're in a good place now where we can really challenge and we want to be at the top table and we want to make sure that we get to the play-offs at the end of the season, and Munster will be in the exact same boat as us. We've both obviously got rich traditions in the clubs so there will definitely be a lot on the line."
Indeed, hosting Munster in a derby clash between second and fourth in the table should help to concentrate minds, not least as Ulster lost 15-10 in Thomond Park in early January despite leading 7-0 when Simon Zebo was red-carded in the 15th minute.
“It doesn’t get any bigger than Munster at home. We went down there and had a pretty disappointing defeat as they were down to 14 men for a long part of that game, but a lot of rugby has been played since then and I feel both sides are in good form going into this.
“They’ll go on now in the Champions Cup and we’ve had a lot of disappointment but we’ve got to turn the page now and fully focus on this game and I’m sure it’s going to be a cracker.”
Derby edge
Murphy has played in countless interpros in his career, including eight against Munster with Leinster (winning seven of them) and three against Munster with Ulster (winning one and losing the last two) and doesn’t believe the derby edge has been dulled.
“I don’t think any spice is taken out of it at all. We all have our different rivalries, every province with each other, and any time we’ve played Munster there definitely has been a lot of spice in the game. It’s just the way it is with the interpros.
“I think a couple of years ago people were giving out that there wasn’t that much on the line when it came to the interpros but I think that’s definitely done a 180 now. People are stacking their teams and you’re going out to give the best account of yourself and especially now that the League has become so competitive.
“Obviously ourselves and Munster are really challenging for those top spots to try and get in the play-offs now. There’s a lot on the line so I’m really looking forward to it and there definitely hasn’t been any drop in the, how would you say it, angst or physicality since I’ve moved up here. If anything it’s been up there a bit more.”
Having played less than 230 minutes in five games since his return Murphy is also fresh, a pre-season foot injury being compounded by a knee injury just before his projected return. “What I was hoping would be six weeks turned into six months.
“I’ve been lucky enough in my career that that hasn’t happened too often and, yeah, it was very difficult at the time and especially when I thought I was back and then had a setback which had nothing to do with my foot at all.
“It makes you reflect and I’m only 30 but if you’re getting to the point when you’re missing six months of the season you’re kind of thinking ‘jeez, do I have that many seasons left in me?’
“So you want to try and be involved as much as possible and it’s obviously been great to see the lads doing so well. But you always want to be part of that and hopefully I can stay fit for the foreseeable future.”
Today, as it happens, also marks his 31st birthday, and an unusual case of him playing on his birthday.
“I can’t remember the last time I played on my birthday I have to say. But sure there’d be no better present than a win this weekend,” he said with a wry smile, adding: “so I’ll try to do my best to give that to myself.”
