Ulster: Richie Murphy’s side want to ‘salvage’ season in Challenge Cup final – Nick Timoney

Ulster looked to have clinched a top-eight place at the Affidea Stadium after they had come from behind in the second half to lead by a point with 12 minutes remaining.

The Warriors, however, were not to be denied a win that earned them top spot in the standings, as they won the game with a late try from Kyle Rowe.

It proved to be another frustrating outing in Belfast for Ulster following on from their dramatic 38-38 draw with Stormers the last time out, with Timoney disappointed that they couldn’t get over the line in both games on home soil.

“Two home games to finish the season against teams one and two in the table, but you’ve got to be backing yourself to win at home, so it’s disappointing we haven’t got it done,” he added.

“Similar to last week, probably some great stuff in attack but then they had some great stuff in attack and we couldn’t stop it.

“It’s probably another cracker of a game to watch if you’re a neutral. We want half of that, to be an exciting team to watch. It’s hard to put your finger on it, a lot of little moments, but not enough of them went our way.

“There’s no looking past next week, so while this is disappointing, there’s an opportunity to salvage something.”

Timoney, who will likely captain Ulster in the European final with Iain Henderson suspended and Stuart McCloskey out injured, believes that the “real fight and spirit” Ulster have shown this season will stand them in good stead to respond against Montpellier.

The 30-year-old conceded that while their defence was “better” against Glasgow it “still needs to go up a level or two” in the final if they are to get over the line.

“We’re going to struggle if we’re conceding as many points as we have. We spent a lot of time on it this week and saw a few areas of improvement, but need to go again and when we make it harder for teams to score against us, we’ve shown how dangerous we are.

“Going into a final sometimes the technicalities of the rugby are secondary to the spirit you take into it, so I guess there’s a big positive there for us.

“In the past or last season probably we would have laid down against Glasgow and taken a bit more of a beating whereas we fought back and stayed in the fight against a really good team.”