Richie Murphy believes Ulster players merit consideration for Autumn Internationals after upturn in form

​Two consecutive bonus point wins have lifted Ulster up to fifth in the United Rugby Championship table.

“Our lads have put their hands up and that's all they can do, you can imagine the answer to that is yes,” speculated Murphy on the possible inclusion of Ulster players in the Ireland line-up.

“We were scratchy in the first few weeks but the last two weeks I think we've put in some good performances as a team and individuals within that have put their hands up, the likes of Jacob (Stockdale), we'll have to wait and see.”

Stockdale has scored three tries in five appearances this season including two against the Ospreys last weekend, and his coach has been impressed by the winger’s form.

“He's definitely working hard at his game, I suppose he's got some confidence back,” said Murphy.

“I'm not saying he wasn't confident, he just seems to be playing with a bit of a freedom.

“He's working hard and he's helping others around him like the younger lads in the squad.

"We're really seeing the strengths to his game at the moment.”

Despite scoring 11 tries and taking a maximum 10 points in their last two outings Murphy feels there is still plenty of room for improvement.

“There are loads of work-ons, I'm not going to tell you what they are here but there's loads of them that we're trying to get better at,” he continued.

“There's been a consistent improvement in a lot of areas, like a lot of our phase work in attack was better; defence coming forward and under pressure is improving.

“We're trending in the right direction but with the squad we have, a mix of young and old, we have to stay on top of things so we can deliver week-in and week-out.”

Ulster face Cardiff away on Saturday night before a month’s break for the Autumn internationals and the coach wants to sign off with a victory.

“It's one of those ones at the end of a six-week block – really important for us – four wins out of six would be quite satisfying, three wins would be a pass,” Murphy said.

Cardiff are ninth in the table having lost their last three games but Murphy is expecting a tough challenge in the Welsh capital.

“The first thing is that they're playing at home and they're coming off losing three games, so they're going to be very difficult and fully committed to finishing off with a win,” he added.

“With ball in hand they can cause a lot of problems in the outside channels. There's a big threat at the breakdown with Thomas Young and the likes.

“We're fully aware of that and we're trying to concentrate on our own game to prepare ourselves the best we can so we can use the strengths we have.”

“You have to be very good away from home, the measure of a team is how you do when you're not playing in front of your home fans.”