'That’s where we’re at': Richie Murphy hopeful experience 'will stand to us in the long run' after Champions Cup blow

Their loss at Thomond Park leaves Ulster sitting 12th in the United Rugby Championship standings, five points adrift of a coveted top-eight spot with only one match left to play in Edinburgh next Friday.

Finishing inside the top-eight would not only have booked a play-off position for Ulster, but also secured passage into the Champions Cup, which is Europe’s top-tier competition.

Instead, they’ll now almost certainly be competing in the Challenge Cup and despite losing each of their last four matches, Murphy believes his squad can benefit going into next season.

"Full credit has to go to Munster, they put us under a lot of pressure,” Murphy told Premier Sports. “I did think in the first half we were well in the game and I thought we were putting some good stuff together.

"Ultimately at the start of the second half they squeezed us at our end, we didn’t look after the ball well enough...it’s disappointing for us.

"We have a mix of experience and youth in our squad and I think over the last couple of weeks, although we haven’t got the results that we wanted, this will stand to us in the long run.

"It means we’re probably playing Challenge Cup next year so that’s where we’re at. We move on from there.”

Ulster were only four points behind at the break after Stuart McCloskey and Jude Postlethwaite both crossed for tries while Jack Murphy kicked a further two penalties, but they couldn’t add to their tally in the second half.

Ireland legend Peter O’Mahony enjoyed a dream ending in his final match at Thomond Park, scoring a try which helped open up a gap and all but book Munster’s spot in the play-offs.

"It has been that case for most of the year,” added Murphy. “I think in and around that, we were four points behind and we had a couple of opportunities where we forced some passes and the ball went to ground.

"Munster at Thomond Park have lived off that for years so you can’t give them those opportunities.

“We’ll learn from it, dust ourselves off, go to Edinburgh next week and try to finish on a high. At this moment in time it’s massively disappointing for us.”