‘At this level you have to win’ – Richie Murphy wants ruthless approach from Ulster against Leinster

Ulster head coach Richie Murphy before the United Rugby Championship match against Munster at Thomond Park in Limerick. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile

Rúaidhrí O'Connor

Ulster coach Richie Murphy was pleased with the way his team acquitted themselves at Thomond Park on Saturday evening, but he knows they'll need more if they're to cause a shock against Leinster at the Aviva Stadium next Saturday.

Having led 17-7 at the break, the northern province were overwhelmed by Munster's bench press in the second half and came out on the wrong side of a 29-25 scoreline which was enough for them to finish sixth in the URC.

"I loved my team’s performance, I thought they were brilliant," Murphy, who took over at Ulster in March, said.

"Came down here, went after Munster from the word go and really stuck in the game.

"We lost our way a little bit in the second half, we just lost control of the ball, there were a couple of decisions that didn’t go our way and then Munster just got back on top, and I suppose the home town sort of feel just barely got them over the line."

Ulster did the double over Leinster this season, but they can expect Leo Cullen's men to be at their strongest next weekend and he wants to see a more ruthless approach next weekend.

"Performances are great, but at this level you’ve got to win games. We would have loved to come here and won and gone into that game next week, it would probably have been Glasgow, and gone in on the back of a win," he said.

"Obviously we haven’t done that but we’re very early on our journey as a team and the great thing is the signs of how we’re going to be, becoming a tough team to play against and a team that looks after the ball much better than what we were doing a couple of weeks back."

The game's most controversial moment came in the opening stages, but Murphy opted not to comment on referee Frank Murphy's decision to keep his cards in his pocket when RG Snyman's shoulder made contact with Will Addison's head.

"I don’t really have any thoughts on it. I didn’t really see it. The referee was going through his due process. I don’t really have a comment on it," he said.