Murphy 'hopeful' Ulster players get Ireland reward

Ulster head coach Richie Murphy believes players in his squad are "definitely further up the pecking order" than in previous years when it comes to Ireland selection for the Six Nations.

The northern province provided only four players for Andy Farrell's original panel for the Autumn series last year and representation was even smaller for the 2025 Six Nations when then interim head coach Simon Easterby named only Iain Henderson, Rob Herring and Cormac Izuchukwu in his 36-player squad.

Murphy has reversed Ulster's fortunes this season, however, with the side having won eight of 11 games in all competitions, topping their Challenge Cup pool after Saturday's win over Stade Francais and sitting third in the United Rugby Championship.

Farrell will name his Six Nations squad next week and Murphy believes the team's form will show his international hopefuls in a "really good light".

"I'm really hopeful," he said.

"I think there's a number of players who are definitely further up the pecking order than they were this time last year, let's say, and that's on the back of the work that the guys are doing together in order to really put on some good team cohesive moments.

"I think the big thing that we have at the moment is players fitting into our system and fitting into it really well, and once you execute like that the team drags the individuals forward as well and puts them in really good light."

One such player who will be on Farrell's radar is wing Zac Ward. The uncapped 27-year-old only made his 15s debut in December 2024 after previously representing Ireland in sevens.

The 2024 Olympian has scored five tries for Ulster in nine appearances this season and had previously trained with the national side during their summer tour of Georgia and Portugal last year.

"He's had an incredible year," added Murphy.

"Zac, his power and his leg drive through contact is exceptional. It's right up there.

"There's other parts of his game that he has to keep improving on and you'll only get that with experience but Bordeaux last season was his first game, so he's doing really well."

On the other side of the Six Nations, thanks to Saturday's nervy 26-19 win over Stade Francais, Ulster know they will be at home to Welsh side Ospreys in the last 16 when the Challenge Cup resumes in April.

The hosts were 26-0 ahead after half an hour but did not score thereafter and ended the game defending inside their own territory.

The former Ireland under-20s coach said he was "delighted" by the outcome and first half performance at the Affidea Stadium, although acknowledged his side were "disappointed" by events after the turn.

"We're delighted we've topped the group," he said. "Yeah, we know there's plenty to work on. Some of our play in the first half was really, really good.

"We lost our way in the second half, but we showed great character and fight just to stay in the game when we couldn't get our hands on enough possession and look after it well enough.

"We went away a little bit from what we do really well, and because of that, we come under pressure. So there's plenty of learnings, but it's great to get learnings when you actually get a bonus-point win and you top the pool and you move on into the next round."