"Won't see him back" - Richie Murphy addresses Ulster's injury crisis ahead of Challenge Cup semi-final

Ulster fielded a heavily rotated side this past Saturday down in Limerick, as Murphy's side was well-beaten by Munster 41-14 in round 16 of the United Rugby Championship. Ulster find themselves battling on two fronts in the business end of both their league and European campaigns, yet their depleted troops could well be the undoing of the boys from Belfast.

After being forced into making 15 changes for the inter-provincial clash with Munster with 12 players on Ulster's injury list, the province added two more names to the side-lines. Speaking to the media after the match at Thomond Park, Murphy said;

"Ben (Carson) is in trouble, he's done a calf injury, probably won't see him back this season I would think. Eric (O'Sullivan) has a back spasm, so we're not sure exactly what that is. The other substitution (Bryan O'Connor) was tactical."

This comes off the back of a mounting injury crisis for Ulster, which is opening the door for fresh faces to take centre-field for the province. Three players made their Ulster debuts against Munster, being academy graduates James McKillop, Tom Brigg and Aitzol Arenzana-King. Also, Bryan O'Connor made his first start for the club, since arriving from Leinster in the Summer

Ulster's injury list hit double figures a fortnight ago, with 12 regular starters side-lined as campaigns take their toll. Ireland internationals Rob Baloucoune, Tom O'Toole and Nick Timoney, along with Wallabies prop Angus Bell, were amongst those unavailable for the one-sided defeat to Munster. Richie Murphy continues to see the silver lining from the opportunities that arise.

"Well, there's two things, one is that guys earned an opportunity over the last number of weeks in training and I think you can see the potential that's in that group. James McKillop, Tom Brigg, Lorcan McLaughlin hasn't started the game this year and then Aitzol King with a really good finish in that first half.

"Yes, there's parts of our game that we were a little bit green in and in fairness to Munster in the second half, when they smelled blood I thought they looked after the ball a hell of a lot better, I thought they turned over the ball quite easily in the first half. They [Munster] were a bit more clinical in the second half and then the pace of play made it very difficult for us to get our foothold back into the game."

Looking ahead to getting his team back fit and firing for the incoming Challenge Cup semi-final, Murphy added;

"I think it was six injuries from the game last week, and we've got probably four of those guys winning their battle to be fit for this week and two very much on the edge. It'll go down to the wire, it'll be tight but we're definitely looking a little bit healthier than we were after last week's game."