Ulster head coach Richie Murphy has praised the “grit” shown by his side in grinding out a 28-24 win over Ospreys in Saturday’s European Challenge Cup round of 16 tie at a windswept Affidea Stadium.
Cormac Izuchukwu, David McCann, Jacob Stockdale and Nick Timoney all scored tries as the Irish province defied the difficult conditions to book a quarter-final against French side La Rochelle in Belfast on Friday.
The Welsh side led 17-14 at the break but with the wind in their favour after the break, Murphy’s team battled back to claim victory.
The hosts survived a scare in the dying minutes when Kieran Hardy’s potential match-winning try was ruled out because of a forward pass in the build-up after consultation with the Television Match Official [TMO].
“A little bit of relief definitely. It never was going to be easy and the conditions obviously made it very difficult,” said Murphy after the game.
“We created quite a few opportunities in the first half but didn’t quite pick the right pass.
“That put us under a little bit of pressure and we conceded a couple of early scores to them and defensively we were just a little bit off but we are in the last eight, we’ve got work to do and we’ve got a week’s prep now to lead into La Rochelle which will be really exciting.”
The Ulster head coach added that some handling errors were inevitable given the weather conditions, which he described as the worst he had witnessed for a game during his tenure.
“We showed a nice bit of grit, we stuck at it and we got over the line.
“Created the opportunities, didn’t take them, so next week we’ve got to work on our skills in training and make sure we take them next time,” he reflected.
Murphy says the prospect of taking on Ronan O’Gara’s team next week is an exciting one.
“It’s a massive game for us, it’s at home. I know they have had a tough enough season but they’re one of the top teams in Europe and when they come to town it’s really exciting.
“We’ll brush ourselves down, we’ll review really hard on Monday and get back to work and make sure we turn up a little bit more polished, a little bit more tidy in and around our decision making.
“If we can do that we can cause any team a threat so we’re excited about what’s ahead.”
