Leinster logjam helped Murphy make Ulster call

Jack Murphy says Leinster’s out-half logjam helped sway his decision to move to Ulster.

The Ireland Under-20s out-half was part of the Leinster sub-academy and revealed he had the opportunity to move north last season, long before his father, Richie, took over as head coach with the province.

Leo Cullen’s senior side have the pick of three Ireland internationals in Ross Byrne, Harry Byrne and Ciarán Frawley, while uncapped Sam Prendergast has been included in the Ireland squad for their upcoming tour of South Africa.

Meanwhile, academy player Charlie Tector has made a handful of appearances off the bench.

The out-half picture at Ulster, meanwhile, is less clustered with Ireland-qualified Aidan Morgan joining from Hurricanes in place of Billy Burns, who is moving to Munster.

Jake Flannery is the only other specialist out-half, with Nathan Doak switching between 9 and 10.

“Last year I was offered to go up to Ulster to the academy but I just thought it was best if I had one more year in the sub-academy in Leinster and focus on my 20s,” Murphy, who joins the Ulster academy, said.

“Then this year it came up again and it was an opportunity for me.

“At the minute there are a lot of top quality out-halves Leinster have and I kind of struggled to see where I was going to fit in, where I was going to play in the next few years.

“I just thought that there was a good opportunity in Ulster in the out-half position to try and push for the out-half [role] over the next few years.

“I kind of had the decision made in my head before Richie had ended up in Ulster; it was a pretty easy decision for me.

“I don’t really know [the pecking order] until I get up there. Billy is going to Munster. Aidan Morgan is coming in, he’s a good player, which is brilliant.

“They have Jake Flannery as well, who played a lot this year. They are really good players. There are less out-halves than there are in Leinster.

“I don’t know where I fit in at the moment but after the World Cup I can get up there and train and play well there. Hopefully, I can get a few opportunities to play next season.”

For now, Murphy will focus his attention on helping Ireland at the Under-20 World Championship in South Africa.

Murphy senior, who joined Ulster in March, led Ireland to two U20 Six Nations championships, and second place this season after an unbeaten run.

Former defence coach Willie Faloon (below) took over the head coach role with the Irish U20s.

“There is no pressure really. It’s quite different,” said Jack Murphy of life in camp under the new regime.

“Willie’s come in as head coach, he’s been here for a long time with the 20s so he knows it inside out, he has worked really closely with us.

“He’s been really, really good. Doaky (Neil Doak) came in and he’s done really well with Keats (Ian Keatley) and Aaron Dundon as well.

“We have quality coaches so I don’t think we miss anything.

“Everyone does things in little different ways but the majority of the stuff we have been doing is staying the same.

“We are just trying to make it better like we always are, trying to improve every day. It’s gone pretty well so far.”

Beaten finalists last year, Ireland’s first game is against Italy in Cape Town on 29 June (3.30pm Irish time).

“We did really well in the Six Nations but there are things that you can pick out that we could have done better,” added the Wicklow native.

“We probably should have been a bit more clinical in our games at times. There were times when we could have killed off teams and made it really hard for them to come back.

“We are still trying to improve the things that we were good at in the Six Nations and there are probably a couple of areas that we are trying to improve.”

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