Sheridan thriving under interim Ulster boss Murphy

When Richie Murphy was seconded up to Ulster in the wake of Dan McFarland's sacking in February, much was made of the ability of the Irish Under-20s coach to get the best out of young players.

In the current financial climate at the province, and throughout the sport in general, it stands to reason that in the years ahead emerging talents will be more important than ever. 

So, while there hasn't been much optimism around Kingspan Stadium this season, the performances of some of the side's maturing forwards has at least represented a step in the right direction.

Lock-cum-flanker Harry Sheridan has perhaps been the biggest beneficiary of Ulster's mid-season coaching change to date.

Five of his eight starts this season have come since the switch and he has already proven to be a trusted figure for Murphy who capped him five times at underage level in 2021.

For his part, Sheridan has repaid the faith, impressing consistently over the past month and claiming Player of the Match honours in the narrow win over Cardiff last time out.

"I loved working with Richie at Ireland Under-20s level and I love working with him now," said the 22-year-old. "He is just a great coach."

Ulster were far from fluid in that 19-17 win over Cardiff. Indeed, Murphy said his side were "very lucky" to scrape home after some key refereeing decisions went their way prior to John Cooney kicking a last-minute penalty for victory.

Overall they have won just two of Murphy's five games, while their best performance in his tenure to date probably came in a defeat against the Stormers.

Sheridan, though, believes that players need to catch up to the former Ireland skills coach's methods.

“The micro-detail that he is emphasising every time is something that I have been trying to get after," he said.

"He is bringing the best out of us now and there is a lot of work that needs done by the players on the pitch to deliver on the stuff that he is preaching to us.

“There is still a wee bit of a gap there, but it is a step in the right direction even if the performance wasn’t where we wanted it to be.”

Sheridan has not been the only member of Ulster's young cohort to impress under Murphy with interim CEO Hugh McCaughey last week speaking of a foundation to build upon.

David McCann has arguably been the province's best player this season, while Scott Wilson has vaulted up the tighthead depth chart and lock Cormac Izuchukwu offered a promising cameo against Cardiff.

"If you look at who's on the pitch towards the end of the game there's a lot of young players coming through," said Murphy.

"Harry Sheridan had a massive impact all the way through. The more he plays, the better he's getting.

"A big abrasive forward, which is exactly what we need."

With four games of the United Rugby Championship remaining before the play-offs, Ulster will need these young players to perform in high-pressure moments during the weeks ahead.

Just how tight the race for the top eight has become was illustrated by the fact that, even in victory, Ulster dropped two places in the table over the course of the weekend and sit 10th going into this weekend's hosting of Benetton.

With every side now having played 14 games, Ulster are just three points, yet five places, behind Friday night's Italian visitors in the standings.

"It is almost like preliminary knock-out rugby now with the way the table is so tight," added Sheridan.

"If you go ahead this week, next week you are looking at the fixtures to see who everyone else has got in the top eight and wondering how these four-point swings are going to go.

“Every game is a knock-out game and we are looking forward to Benetton.

"It is going to be a tough, tough challenge and we’re going to have to have a lot more accuracy to put them away.”