Murphy 'bitterly disappointed' but focusing on final

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• Published1 hour ago

Ulster head coach Richie Murphy says his side are "bitterly disappointed" at missing out on the opportunity to secure a top-eight finish in the United Rugby Championship.

A dramatic 26-22 defeat by Glasgow Warriors, who secured top spot in the league, meant Ulster's hope of reaching the play-offs, and the Champions Cup qualification that comes with it, is out of their hands.

Ulster sit eighth in the table but Munster need just one point at home to the Lions on Saturday to leapfrog their Irish rivals into the play-offs.

Murphy's side can still qualify for the top tier of Europe next season but must beat Montpellier in the Challenge Cup final in Bilbao on 22 May.

Should Ulster miss out on the play-offs, they would be the first side to surpass 50 points but not qualify for the top eight in the URC.

• Ulster sweating on URC progress after Glasgow defeat

  • Published2 hours ago

With their destiny out of their hands, Murphy said "we need to park this now and move on".

"It's probably not going to be enough and we're bitterly disappointed about that," Murphy said.

"We've always said that one of our targets was to make sure that we were in the top eight.

"In some ways, we've failed in that target."

With Champions Cup qualification still in their hands if they can beat Montpellier to win their first silverware in 20 years, Murphy says his focus will immediately shift to the Bilbao showpiece, rather than waiting to see if the Lions will do them a favour.

"We've an opportunity to, although not get into the top eight, to get back into Europe.

"Our full focus will be on coming in and preparing for a cup final, which is the first cup final we've been in since 2012."

Balancing squad 'massivelly difficult'

Murphy said it had been "massively difficult" to balance his squad on two fronts as a number of injuries and suspensions took hold on his group.

In recent weeks, Ulster have lost key players such as Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale, Angus Bell, James Hume and Rob Herring through injury.

Ulster have also missed captain Iain Henderson, who will also sit out next week's final, and Harry Sheridan through suspension at the tail end of the season.

"It's the fact that you don't get a break," Murphy added.

"It's 10 weeks into a block now where we've played every week and there's no time for refreshment."

Murphy pointed to how Glasgow and the Stormers have benefited from having off weeks due to their respective European exits and that allowed them to keep their squad fresh.

He said that, due to the run of games, Ulster usually have "one training session and a captain's run" in the lead-up to games.

"We have a fair few bodies who are not technically injured, but they're also carrying a lot of mileage in their legs.

"Our team selections have to balance up the what we need from a freshness point of view and what we need from a competitive point of view as well, or a game time point of view.

"It's a massive balancing act, but tonight we're bitterly disappointed to come away with a loss."

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