Ulster coach Richie Murphy spoke of his relief after Ulster halted their two-match losing run by producing a grandstand finish to defeat the Scarlets 30-28 to also keep their United Rugby Championship Play-Off hopes on the right track.
Murphy praised his side for sticking in a game where they had found themselves trailing 12-0 early on and then collectively gathering their strength to produce a last-gasp score to tie the game, Nathan Doak’s conversion allowing them to claim this vital result.
“Relieved is the big thing,” said Murphy. “Delighted at the way the lads stuck to the task when things were going against them. I thought you saw a team working really hard for each other and sticking to the system.
“It definitely wasn’t perfect. Going 12-0 down early on made it very difficult and I thought the guys fought back, and obviously to get over the line in the last two or three minutes gives us a bit of confidence going forward.”
Alan O’Connor’s 79th minute try was the moment which allowed Ulster to believe that the win was there for them, Doak’s kick doing the rest.
Stuart McCloskey of Ulster is tackled by Ioan Lloyd and Gareth Davies of Scarlets during the United Rugby Championship match between Ulster and Scarlets at the Kingspan Stadium in Belfast
Murphy feels that the character shown by the team in doing this will only stand to them going forward with six rounds to go.
“Great character within the group to find a way to win that at the back end of the game,” he admitted.
“These guys are working really hard for each other and sometimes we’ve caused a lot of harm to ourselves, and when that has happened on the odd occasion we’ve splintered off and become individual and try to solve problems on our own.
“(Beating the Scarlets) is a big step in right direction where the team stuck together and we kept playing the same way, and it’s very much a team try at the back end of the game.
“When we go back to review, we’ll be looking at situations throughout the game when we weren’t quite in sync with the rest of the team, but I’ll keep going back to the same thing – five points down, five minutes to go we found a way to win the game.”
Ulster had struggled to hold the lead on several occasions in this nip and tuck game and it made for a tense finish for all concerned.
Murphy stated: “The one thing when you look out the window of the coaches’ box and you look at your team and they’re working together to try and solve problems, that’s actually a very encouraging sign because we’ll get better from that.
“When you look out and you see your team fractured and people are going off and doing their own thing, that’s when you’ve got big problems.
“The lads stuck together tonight and in the changing room they’re relieved, and what’s important now is that we move on from this and build going into the Dragons in three weeks and hit the ground running.”
In terms of Ulster’s chances of making the Play-Offs, Murphy, understandably, refused to be drawn on that outcome.
“For me, we’re going to ignore the Play-Offs, we’re just going to concentrate on the game that’s right in front of us,” he concluded.
“I think we play better when we have a narrower focus.”