Normally during a game week, Richie Murphy would chat to son Ben fairly frequently about how he’s getting on. This week, understandably, the conversations have been a lot less frequent and much more censored.
After all, neither Ulster head coach Richie nor Connacht scrum-half Ben want to give away too much when it comes to tactics ahead of Saturday’s inter-provincial clash at Ravenhill.
Family going head-to-head in inter-pros is not uncommon but this will be a rare occasion of father v son, and it will be the first time that Richie has taken on Ben, who has started the season out west like a house on fire. That, unsurprisingly, has his father beaming with pride, even if he jokes he would like his son to be a little more open with what his team are planning tactically for this weekend’s meeting.
“We had a conversation last night on the phone. Myself and my wife were out playing padel and we were coming home and he rang us,” said Murphy.
“There was a bit of banter back and forth. He’s not telling me much, he’s not telling his mum much either, which is surprising.
“So we are not getting any information out of Connacht. He is very loyal to his team.”
So is Richie, who has been dissecting Ulster’s mini-tour to South Africa over the past few days. The team arrived back into Belfast on Monday morning before undertaking a light training session on Wednesday, with their only other being captain’s run pn Friday as they manage re-acclimatising to the northern hemisphere.
Not ideal ahead of a full-blooded inter-pro, and not ideal either for a young Ulster side who need time together on the training paddock given their slow start to the season, even if gaining experience on the pitch is what matters most.
“There’s definitely things in our game that we haven’t kicked on as much as we would have liked,” said Murphy.
“In relation to the turnover stuff, moving the ball early, getting the ball to the right place, I think we have improved in that area.
“There’s even areas like the set piece that we need big improvements but that is going to take time with a young squad.
“(Overall) I’m really impressed. The lads are hungry, working really hard. We had some really long days through pre-season and the lads, there was never a complaint. Attitude is spot on, work rate really good. Really happy with that side.
“We won’t be beaten for the lack of effort or commitment. We might not be good enough some days, but that’s something we have to work on and get better.”
Improvements are particularly needed in the set-piece. Ulster were put into reverse gear in Saturday’s loss to the Bulls as a Springbok-laden pack took the province’s young stars — James McCormick and Charlie Irvine were both making their first starts at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium — to the cleaners at scrum time.
“It’s definitely something technical which I have worked on with the guys because that’s what scrummaging is about,” added Murphy.
“But we went into a scrum, the (Bulls) loosehead was 128kg and the tighthead was 143kg. Our tighthead is 118kg.
“So even that mass alone, without the technical side of it, coming down on top of you is quite difficult to deal with and, let’s be honest, that Bulls scrum is probably the strongest scrum in the world.
“We had a very inexperienced team out in the end. The props that are around, we have Tom O’Toole, but most of our props are young and inexperienced at this level.
“So how do you get experience? You play. We have to build that game base so that, between now and Christmas, these players are more comfortable at the level they are playing at. They are learning on the job, which is very difficult.”
The inter-pro mind games began on Tuesday when Connacht counterpart Pete Wilkins claimed that Murphy had deliberately rested players in that Bulls game in order to focus on Saturday’s clash instead.
“No response,” retorted Murphy frostily when given his chance to react to those comments.
“Pete should concentrate on coaching his own team.”
Meanwhile, Ulster have confirmed the signing of former Ireland Under-20s tighthead prop Bryan O’Connor until the end of the season.
The 25-year-old signs after spending last season in the Championship with Bedford Blues and has already linked up with his new side and could be involved against Connacht this weekend.