\n<\/p>\n
If the province are to get back in the winning habit soon, asking more of the opposition with ball in hand will be key.<\/p>\n
For all their possession, Ulster manufactured just one linebreak against Munster with their opponents making 293 tackles in response to an attack the head coach described as “stodgy”. <\/p>\n
But in a wider sense, with seven losses in their 10 games this season, and struggles when stepping up to the Champions Cup that have resulted in just two wins from their past 12 in Europe’s top competition, the decline over the past 25 months has been stark.<\/p>\n
When Murphy agreed to join Ulster as Dan McFarland’s successor last season, he will have known that he was not to be held to the same standard of results as his predecessors. <\/p>\n
With double World Cup winner Steven Kitshoff having left one year into a three-year deal last summer, the era of high price imports in Belfast appears to be over.<\/p>\n
Where once there was a budget for players such as Duane Vermeulen, Marcell Coetzee and, going further back, Ruan Pienaar and Charles Piutau, now Murphy says there is “not bucket loads of money” to spend. <\/p>\n
Performances, and indeed expectations, reflect the change accordingly.<\/p>\n
“We always knew when we were coming in that the way forward was going to be different for Ulster, that we were going to have to bring some young guys through,” said Murphy, who arrived in Belfast after success with the Irish under-20s. <\/p>\n
“There’s not bucket loads of money to sign people. The guys are responding well, they’re working really hard, we just need to be a bit more streetwise in big moments in games.” <\/p>\n<\/div>\n