Richie Murphy has 7-game audition for Ulster top job

Richie Murphy has been told that he has got a seven-game audition to secure himself the Ulster job on a permanent basis after being handed control at the Kingspan Stadium until the end of the season.

The Ireland Under-20 head coach has been named as Dan McFarland’s replacement after the long-serving boss departed from the Province after six years in charge earlier this week.

Murphy was appointed Ireland’s Under-20 head coach in 2021 after, as skills coach, helping Leinster win three Heineken Cup titles and will link up with Ulster after the Under-20s Six Nations.

Ricardo Loubscher speaks about the Bok alignment camp

Ricardo Loubscher speaks about the Bok alignment camp

His first games in charge will come against United Rugby Championship strugglers The Sharks in Durban, and he has been told the job on a permanent basis is his to lose.

Ulster are hanging onto the final place in the URC quarter-finals by their fingertips, and multiple sources have told RugbyPass that there are no plans for them to recruit anyone else.

Ireland Under-20 scrum coach Aaron Dundon has backed Murphy to be a success in Belfast despite never holding a number-ones role at a club before.

“I don’t think it was too much of a shock [that he got the job]. We know he is a top-class coach, and he was going to get picked up sooner rather than later,” Dundon told the BBC.