United Rugby Championship: Marty Moore says recent Ulster game was a 'head-scratching result'

Ulster prop Marty Moore says recent results have been a “headache” ahead of his side's return to action against the Ospreys.

The United Rugby Championship fixture will be Ulster's first match since two heavy Champions Cup defeats against Toulouse and Harlequins in January.

And Moore is keen for Ulster to put things right on Sunday.

“It was tough not having games in the near future to really set goals and correct the situation,” he said.

“We've done some good groundwork over the past few weeks, so we'll do our best to move forward this weekend.”

“That doesn't happen very often. [having a four-week break] Usually, the matches are unforgiving, and although some people complain about how quickly they unfold, the body is rested and refreshed. ”

Ulster returned to URC action four weeks after a crushing 47-19 defeat to Harlequins that knocked them out of the Champions Cup in the group stage.

Moore admitted Ulster's inconsistency had hurt them so far this season and admitted an honest conversation was needed to resolve the issue.

“A lot of things can change quickly. We were one of the better teams and then two bad games change everything and it's easy to forget the level of performance we had a few weeks ago.” he explained.

“I don't think it will take long for us to go out and perform and get back to the level we should be.

“That's not what we've consistently done as a team.” [lose heavily] Perhaps that's what caught us off guard.

“There were some tough conversations between coaches and players in the days following those performances.”

The 32-year-old continued: “That's the way it is at this stage. There's no point in discussing it any further and we're looking forward to this weekend.”

“It's definitely a head-scratcher for people who don't expect to perform like that.” [against Harlequins], the basics let us down in that game. ”

Moore returned to the Ulster squad in November after being sidelined for 11 months with an anterior cruciate ligament injury sustained in a game against Munster on New Year's Day last year.

The Dubliner, who has won 10 caps for Ireland, revealed that returning to his peak performance was not as easy as he expected.

“It took me longer than expected to get back to a comfort level,” Moore admitted.

“But right now, I'm at a level where I can function well without thinking about my legs and knees, so I'm happy.”

Ulster have four URC games ahead of the Challenge Cup and could call up Ireland players Jacob Stockdale, Ian Henderson, Nick Timane and Tom Stewart for this weekend's match against Wales. can.

Moore believes the break before the run-in is like a “reset” for the team, but warned that the Ospreys will be a difficult opponent at Swansea.

The Welsh side sit in eighth place in the URC table, three places worse than Ulster. However, they have won six of their last seven home games.

“Right now we have a nine-game block and we have to really pursue that. We feel like we're at the halfway point.” [of the season] That helped us win two games from behind.

“We have had many tough battles against them over the past few years, and the games have been low-scoring.When I think back to our recent matches, the games relied heavily on set-pieces and battles in position, so we responded accordingly. I want to prepare.”