Ulster finally got back to winning ways with an away win against Connacht at the Dexcom Stadium on Saturday night.
The victory was probably more than a week overdue as Ulster should have converted their territory and possession against Munster to take care of proceedings at home. Winning on the road in Galway will revitalise this young side, before they turn their attention to a difficult task in the Champions Cup.
Fighting on both the domestic and Champions Cup fronts is expected of Ulster; they're a club that have traditionally held their own with high expectations in Europe.
However, after shipping two heavy defeats to French giants Toulouse and Bordeaux, Ulster will be focusing heavily on building on their league win, taking on Zebre at home before travelling to Benetton a few weeks after.
Facing the Italian sides during the international window will allow Richie Murphy to gather some much-needed points to scale the cluttered league table, before tougher challenges lie ahead.
Despite a run of five losses, Murphy is doing a great job in rebuilding his Ulster squad. Their numbers have been cut back and he’s using all of his insights and experience with players that he coached with the Ireland Under-20s to lay the foundations for the team going forward.
The five-game losing streak sounds terrible, but when you take the context into account, the two Champions Cup games were objectively always going to be tough, a loss to Leinster, and a game they should have won against Munster make up four of them. Had they gotten over the line against Munster, the frustration would have been a lot less.
Murphy hasn’t had an easy time with injuries to senior players like Rob Herring, Tom Stewart, Iain Henderson, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale and others, but within the adversity he has uncovered some real gems.
Jude Postlethwaite and James McNabney are two players that are very exciting for Ulster. Both plying their trade previously with City of Armagh in the All-Ireland league, I’ve seen their strength, power and influence over the game first hand.
They've put their hands up in the interprovincial series during the Christmas period. McNabney was particularly impressive and looks like a player that has an enormous ceiling in terms of the physical attributes needed at this level, and the step up to the next.
There’s a lot of All-Ireland league influence littered throughout the current Ulster squad.
Richie’s son Jack led the way for Ulster on his first senior start. He showed good pace down the left-hand side at one stage against Connacht, but it’s his assured nature for a 20-year-old kicker that goes slightly unnoticed. He’s been coached by a former Irish kicking coach for most of his life. His dad Richie is in a great place to guide Jack to a wide open out-half berth at Ulster.
Jack kicked Clontarf to a win against Cork Con last year after we took the lead late on. Clontarf etched out two penalties for the out-half to confidently strike over the bar and navigate their way to a win in Dublin. He also had a great handle on the Irish Under-20 side last year and showed some personality along the way.
Marcus and Matty Rea, Reuben Crothers, Rob Balacoune, Jake Flannery, Harry Sheridan, Conor McKee, Sam Berman, Wilhelm de Klerk and Cameron Doak have all been on the opposite side to me in the All-Ireland league, some more recently than others.
Others like Rory Telfer, James Humphreys and the rampaging Scott Wilson have been playing in Division 1B of the league. The amount of talent coming through the league in the northern teams is quite noticeable.
Ulster have done a great job of directing some of the talent from other provinces, mainly three Leinster players in Sam Berman, Jack Murphy and Wilhelm de Klerk.
It might seem like the future is too distant to get excited about, but when you look at the age profile of Ulster’s players, Murphy isn’t only doing the job of reinvigorating the side currently, he’s also laying strong foundations for the future.
Not forgetting that Ulster had their injury issues with senior players, which may still be ongoing, Murphy has helped in bringing through a powerful back five in Cormac Izuchukwu, Harry Sheridan, David McCann and McNabney to go add to the dominance of Rob Timoney and the experience of Alan O’Connor and Kieran Treadwell.
While things seem tough at the moment, winning their first game in six and clutching on to the all-important eighth spot in the league table, there are exciting movements in the background at Ulster.
It's also easy to forget that Nathan Doak is still only 23. He might play with a wise head most of the time but he’s such a young player to have the control that he can play with from scrum-half.
Mike Lowry is one of Ulster’s most experiences backs at the moment and still only 26 years of age.
If Ulster can harness the vibrancy of their youth, while piling the experience into guys like Wilson, McNabney, Postlethwaite and Murphy, they’ll rebuild the club pretty quickly.
It’s difficult to see the positives when you’re a supporter of the club and dealing with some of the week-to-week disappointments that can distract you in the URC.
When you can stand back objectively and have the luxury of being patient because you have less skin in their games, Ulster can develop a group that is mostly homegrown and can aspire to more consistent days.
Murphy’s experience in past coaching roles, including being at Leinster and part of the Irish senior and Under-20 set-up, is one of the key aspects of this rebuild. The reports around his man-management skills are overwhelmingly positive, which is exactly what the group needs.
Ulster’s win against Connacht is a real chance to get back to consistent winning habits. They’ll have a free shot in their Champions Cup games and back-to-back chances against Italian opposition to kick on in the league.
With some medium-term patience and a small bit more fortune, Ulster could well be on their way back to where they belong.
