- author, Jonathan Bradley
- role, BBC Sport Northern Ireland
Ulster caretaker manager Richie Murphy has said he has had “positive” discussions about taking over the role permanently at the Kingspan Stadium, despite speculation that someone else will take the job.
The 54-year-old has long been considered the front-runner to lead the team ahead of next season and has expressed his desire to take the job, but reports from Japan this week said the position was vacant. Kubota Spears coach Frans Ludeke is reportedly involved in the post.
“You don't really pay attention to what's going on in the background,” Murphy said.
“We had discussions with Ulster and they were all positive for next year, so we’re still at that stage.”
Murphy played six games in six weeks after arriving from the underage Six Nations, including two in South Africa and two in France.
His team has now won two games in a row, with the 38-34 victory over Benetton showing a step forward in terms of performance.
With the United Rugby Championship (URC) play-off race heating up, Murphy added that he had to focus more on results than his long-term future.
“It's probably going to affect other people more than it does me,” he said of the speculation.
“I'm very happy with what I'm doing. I think when you don't have certainty, it's easy to create speculation. But you can't deal with speculation.
“We have to prepare the team on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday to prepare the team for Friday. I'm dealing with the team and worrying about whether we'll be good enough to win on Friday night. ing.”
Murphy isn't the only interim head coach considering his future at Kingspan Stadium. His son Jack, who started all five of Ireland's Under-20 Six Nations matches at fly-half in 2024, is also in contract negotiations in Belfast.
“The latest information is that he is definitely talking to Ulster,” Murphy added.
“He hasn't signed a contract or anything yet. He's considering his college options and we'll see how that goes over the next few weeks.”
Ulster scored five tries against Benetton and moved from 10th to 5th in the URC table with three games remaining. We'll see results elsewhere on Saturday to see where they finish the weekend, but five points against their play-off rivals could be crucial in the race to finish the season in the top eight.
After a week off in preparation for the European semi-finals, Ulster will resume league action away to the Scarlets on May 11th.
Benetton were missing at least 10 regulars for their win, so Murphy hopes to have a few players back for the trip to Wales.
“One or two players will come back eventually, but it's really hard to say which ones,” he added.
“They're doing a great job working with the medical team and putting them through their paces.
“You can expect to get some back, but it won't come close to what you lost.”
Injuries have been a consistent theme during Murphy's short tenure, with key players such as Ian Henderson, Rob Herring, Nick Timane and Kieran Treadwell currently sidelined, while Springboks' Stephen Kitt It was already confirmed that Shoff played in his last game at state before the game. He returned to the Stormers in the summer.
In their absence, Murphy has had to rely on a number of young players, some of whom he had previously worked with in the Ireland Under-20s.
“It's huge,” Murphy said of the impact of extended injured list.
“The experience we're losing, Scott Wilson, who's 21, is going to play three or four games in a row, which shouldn't happen, but so is Harry Sheridan, who's 22. The situation is as follows.
“Having a tight forward there and being able to do that puts pressure on us because that’s where we’re missing most of those players.
“The players will learn from these experiences and it will serve them well over the next few seasons, but for the sake of Ulster rugby we have to win now.
“I'm really glad that we were able to survive the last game with so many injuries.
“Having these young players on the team (now) creates competition and when the other players come back, they don't just get their jerseys back, they all get on the team for the next game. You have to work hard to get in. That’s the big thing.”
