Richie and Jack Murphy embracing change at Ulster as new season kicks off v Edinburgh

Time waits for no man, and so another URC season gets underway at Belfast’s Affidea Stadium this Friday night, as Edinburgh come to town (7:45pm kick off).

Last season was a rollercoaster from start to finish, that culminated in a scrap for the URC top eight and a battle for the Challenge Cup.

Ulster fought impressively on two fronts, until they were struck down in the searing heat of the Challenge Cup final Bilbao, and were just edged out of the top eight in the league.

11 men have left the club since. Nine have been signed. So how does a head coach negotiate such change?

Richie Murphy accepts it’s never going to be like for like, oftentimes far from it, but that the core philosophy rings true:

“Yeah, there’s definitely times when you go looking for a character, or a leader, you know what I mean? For instance Eduardo (Bello, new Argentine prop forward) and Werner (Kok, recent Newcastle Red Bulls signing) are very different types of people who lead in different ways.

“Eduardo has been incredible in relation to our young props and you know he’s an international class tighthead prop who played in the last World Cup, who picked up an injury and was out of the game for two years.

“That doesn’t mean he’s lost the experience that he’s had before that and his ability to share that experience with the likes of Scotty Wilson, Tom McAllister, Flynn Longstaff, Jacob Boyd.

“You need to do this, you need to do that. The intricacies of scrummaging I think has been a massive bonus for Ulster Rugby in relation to someone like that coming into our environment.”

While the pack has been bolstered with experience, with 30-year-old lock Eli Snyman also signed, the backline has been injected with the youth and flair of Irish qualified out-half Jamie Benson.

The 23-year-old, who made his debut for Harlequins back in November 2024, can cover 10, 12 and 15, and is a former England U20 international.

Fellow out-half Jack Murphy insists it’s a good thing for the squad, with former Munster man Jake Flannery also still a major influence in the squad, having signed a one-year extension to take his contract through to next summer:

“It’s three young guys kinda fighting it out and I guess the way we’re trying to play the game, all of us suit that style, but it’s great for competition and ideas.

“All three of us can kinda come together and share what we’ve got. It’s definitely added a lot to my game over the last few years talking to Jake and now Jamie this year, so it’s exciting.”

Murphy - the top points scorer in the 2024 U20 Six Nations Championship - feels the A v B sessions in training have gone up a notch as a result of improved squad competition:

“Yeah 100 per cent. We’ve got really good nines, really good tens, so sessions are really, really good quality this year. I’ve found a massive step up since last year, much more intense over the last few weeks.

“It gets pretty competitive and it’s a high quality of training, which is what you need for when you come to the games.

“Everybody switches around. All three of us play with different nines every week. It’s good to get a feel for everybody, everybody is different in our squad, our scrum halves and our tens, so it’s nice to get a mix.”