Richie Murphy has 7-game audition for Ulster top job

Richie Murphy has been told that he has got a seven-game audition to secure himself the Ulster job on a permanent basis after being handed control at the Kingspan Stadium until the end of the season.

The Ireland Under-20 head coach has been named as Dan McFarland’s replacement after the long-serving boss departed from the Province after six years in charge earlier this week.

Murphy was appointed Ireland's Under-20 head coach in 2021 after, as skills coach, helping Leinster win three Heineken Cup titles and will link up with Ulster after the Under-20s Six Nations.

His first games in charge will come against United Rugby Championship strugglers The Sharks in Durban, and he has been told the job on a permanent basis is his to lose.

Ulster are hanging onto the final place in the URC quarter-finals by their fingertips, and multiple sources have told RugbyPass that there are no plans for them to recruit anyone else.

Ireland Under-20 scrum coach Aaron Dundon has backed Murphy to be a success in Belfast despite never holding a number-ones role at a club before.

“I don't think it was too much of a shock [that he got the job]. We know he is a top-class coach, and he was going to get picked up sooner rather than later,” Dundon told the BBC.