Ulster boss Richie Murphy enjoying banter with son Ben ahead of crunch Connacht clash

​Richie took over at the Kingspan Stadium in March with younger son Jack – currently in South Africa with Emerging Ireland – following his dad north of the border, while Ben moved to Connacht.

The 23-year-old scrum-half has been the instrumental in Connacht’s good start to the season, scoring three tries in three games as the western province sit fourth in the table.

Ulster boss Murphy said: “We had a conversation Monday night on the phone, my wife and I were out playing Padel, and we were coming home and he rang us, there was a bit of banter back and forth.

“He’s not telling me much, he’s not telling his mum much either, which is surprising. So, we are not getting any information out of Connacht, he is very loyal to his team.

"He's not giving much away. I don't actually know if he's playing at the weekend or not, he won't tell me even though other people are feeding back information.

"We'll wait and see. He's had a really good start to the season, obviously he moved down to Galway in the summer and has fitted in really well.

"Like every young player when they make these moves, if they get the opportunity it gives them the opportunity to take it and that's what he's done – it's great to see him doing so well, but not this week."

Ulster are 13th in the table after taking a solidary point from their two games in South Africa but Murphy feels a big interpro win would be the perfect way to bounce back.

“There are areas you look at every team and think you can get at, because every defensive system has a weakness – we have seen stuff,” said Murphy. “You would probably like another training session this week to do that, but we don’t have that.

“There’s a clear plan; boys have bought in and are ready to go again.

“We are not going to get carried away, we are three games into a six-game block – at the end of the six games, we will see where we are at.

“Each of these games, you have to take them individually.”

Reflecting on the tour in South Africa, Murphy said it was time to move on.

“The South African tour, you look at Lions, they lost one at home last year, we had a chance late on in the game to get a losing bonus point as well,” he said. “But Bulls, (it was) probably the strongest team they have put out in four years.

“So we need to park that and we need to take the bits that we need to get better at and that’s what we are trying to do this week. Keep it very simple, simple game plan, get the basics going and run around the breakdown.

“We are fully aware of that, we are coming home to the Kingspan which is a place the lads really love playing, it is a big day, and they know it is a big game.”

“Connacht are riding high. Even though they lost their first game I think they got a lot of confidence out of that first game, but they still managed to give Munster an opportunity to win it, which they did.”

Ulster have boosted their front row options be signing former Munster sub academy prop Bryan O’Connor.

Predominantly a tight head he can also play on the other side of the scrum.

The 25-year-old has had spells with London Irish, Gloucester and most recently Bedford, and has represented Ireland at U20 level.