Ulster Rugby: Murphy has ‘positive’ talks over head coach job

Injuries have been a consistent theme of Murphy’s short tenure with key figures like Iain Henderson, Rob Herring, Nick Timoney and Kieran Treadwell presently out of action, while it has already been confirmed that Springbok Steven Kitshoff has played his last game for the province before a summer return to Stormers.

In their absence, Murphy has had to rely on a number of younger players, some of whom he previously worked with at the Ireland Under-20s.

“It’s massive,” said Murphy of the impact of the lengthy injury list.

“When you lose the experience that we’re losing, you’ve got 21-year-old Scott Wilson going three or four games in a row, which shouldn’t really happen, Harry Sheridan is in a similar boat at 22.

“Tight-five forwards out there and being able to do that, because that’s where we’re missing the bulk of those players, it puts pressure on you.

“The guys will learn from these experiences, and it will stand to them over the next number of seasons, but for Ulster Rugby we need to win right now.

“To be able to get through the last number of games with the amount of injuries that we’ve had has been really good.

“Getting those young lads into the team (now) builds the competition so that when the other lads come back, they’re not just handed back a jersey, they all have to work really hard to get into the team for the next game. That’s the big thing.”