Ulster have hit some low points over the last number of years. But a recent home defeat to Zebre saw the northern province hit an all-time low.
A first-ever defeat to the Italian franchise in front of a sparsely populated Ravenhill left a despondent Ulster with plenty of soul-searching to do. Having to wait three weeks for their next URC game also meant that there was a danger of the defeat festering further into the players’ mindset.
But thankfully, a pre-arranged mid-season challenge with the Queensland Reds presented Richie Murphy’s side with an avenue to get that shock Zebre defeat out of their system.
And it was a challenge that Murphy’s young guns embraced with open arms. Just as it looked like one of the big guns of Super Rugby were going to cruise to an easy win, Ulster launched a spirted comeback and they almost snatched an unlikely draw in the dying seconds.
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When asked if the mid-season workout against the Reds was a worthwhile exercise, forwards coach Jimmy Duffy said, “I think it was.”
“And as I mentioned, with some of the young players that kind of feature towards the backend of that game it was massive.
“I believe they had thirteen Wallabies in their crew. For our lads to almost kind of snatch a draw at the end was positive.
“We would’ve liked to win but there’s a lot of young guys getting a lot of minutes and it can be a challenge. But there are a lot of upshoots in that group,” continued Duffy.
Duffy, who is no stranger to the southern hemisphere opposition having recently returned home after a two-year spell in Perth with the Western Force, hailed last week’s challenge as a perfect exercise to fill a gap in the fixture list due to the Six Nations.
“I wasn’t part of the decision process at the time but it was invaluable to have that last week. The league is a wee bit different to when I was last here.
“There used to be 24 league games alone, now it’s 18. So, it’s important to have competitive fixtures and I think we got a huge amount out of that game, especially those young players getting an opportunity to play against some really top opposition.”
Meanwhile, Ulster have confirmed the make-up of next seasons coaching ticket.
After bringing Duffy in as forwards coach last summer, head coach Richie Murphy has added the services of Mark Sexton and Willie Faloon.
Sexton, brother of former Irish international Johnny, arrives from Connacht to take up the role of backs coach.
Sexton was also a member of Murphy’s coaching team that led Ireland to back-to-back under 20 Grand Slams in 2022 and 2023.
New defence and contact skills coach Faloon will need no introduction to Ulster fans having made 63 appearances for the province and comes in to replace the recently departed Jonny Bell who left to pursue new opportunities outside of rugby.
