How have ‘belief and clarity’ improved Ulster?

Last season, Ulster had a dismal season and finished 14th out of 16 teams in the United Rugby Championship with just 38 points.

Almost a year on, they are up to second in the table thanks to a bonus-point win in Edinburgh, and have surpassed last year’s tally with six games to spare.

It was an important win for Richie Murphy’s young side, who have gone from strength to strength throughout the season.

But one thing they had not achieved was a dominant away victory in the league outside of Ireland since early October.

Earlier in the season they had been hammered by the Lions in South Africa and were without a win in their three trips to Wales.

In last year’s Six Nations, Ulster did not have a single player in the matchday squad to face Wales.

Last week they had seven, as Tom O’Toole, Nick Timoney, Stuart McCloskey, Robert Baloucoune and Jacob Stockdale started in Dublin, while Tom Stewart and Nathan Doak came off the bench.

Four of that contingent – O’Toole, McCloskey, Baloucoune and Timoney – will be involved in the Triple Crown decider with Scotland in Dublin on Saturday.

“We have got a bit more clarity and belief in what we’re doing, and that shows on the pitch,” Murphy said on Premier Sports after the six-try win.

“A lot of those young lads were out on the pitch last year but probably didn’t believe that they should have been.

In the final game last season, Edinburgh ran out 47-17 winners at the Hive. There was to be no repeat this time around.

In a game that had been rescheduled from Story Amy in October, on paper Ulster looked a weaker side on Friday than they would have been on the original date last year.

The same, of course, can be said of Edinburgh who were without key wings Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe, but it was the hosts who led 19-14 at half-time thanks to tries from Ross Thompson, Harry Paterson and Wes Goosen.

Ulster had hit back through Charlie Irvine and the returning Juarno Augustus, but the second half was a chaotic affair as Harry Sherdian was sent off, but Murphy’s side rallied and scored tries through Jake Flannery, Scott Wilson and Conor McKee to take an unlikely lead.

When Harri Morris was then also sent off for a wild and reckless challenge on Cormac Izuchuwku, Ulster were able to stretch their legs to win in impressive fashion, with Ben Carson’s score the icing on the cake.

“I thought we adapted pretty well and some of the tries we scored in the second half were excellent,” Murphy added.

“The belief was what I really enjoyed tonight and we’re delighted. This is a really tough place to come.

“That’s what you see, isn’t it [the confidence]? We were pretty harsh at half-time and we felt that we were a little bit off.

Ulster are back in action on Friday when they host Connacht, before a trip to bottom side Zebre.

There’s a break from league action against Ospreys in the quarter-finals of the Challenge Cup, before two Irish derbies with Munster and Leinster in the URC.

The two final league games are difficult, at home to the Stormers and away to current leaders Glasgow on the final day before the play-offs.

For Rob Herring, the most-capped Ulster player of all time, it gives the youthful side, who will welcome back their Ireland internationals down the line, a lot of confidence heading onto the home straight.

“I’m very proud of the whole squad. We pulled it back together,” he said.

“It’s massive. We’ve been to Wales three times and lost. It wasn’t necessarily the results, the performances haven’t been up to standard.