Ulster play-off chase like ‘three finals’ – Murphy

Head coach Richie Murphy says Ulster face “three finals” in their bid to reach the United Rugby Championship play-offs.

Their defeat by Leinster on Saturday leaves Murphy’s side in 10th place in the standings, two points outside the all-important top eight.

Ulster host the Sharks in Belfast this weekend and finish their campaign away to Munster and Edinburgh.

“Yeah, it definitely is,” Murphy said when asked if Saturday’s final home game of the season was a must-win for his side.

“It’s very hard to know what you need to get into the top eight but 47 or 48 points will probably do it.

“We’re on 37 at the moment, so we’d be pretty happy with 10 or 11 points. Whether that be three wins or picking up a couple of bonus points, it’s going to be very tight. “

After three consecutive league wins, Ulster had moved into sixth place heading into last weekend but have dropped to 10th after the 41-17 defeat by runaway leaders Leinster at the Aviva Stadium.

Murphy will also have to contend with a number of injury concerns heading into the final stretch of the regular season, with backs Stuart McCloskey, Stewart Moore and Michael Lowry all injured in Dublin.

Props Callum Reid and Andrew Warwick were also injured in the defeat, while hooker Rob Herring was replaced at half-time.

“We always said we would take each game as it comes,” Murphy added.

“Our big worry is what state our troops are going to be in.