Murphy thrilled by 'team man' Shanahan's star turn

David Shanahan won the game for Ulster with a try in the 84th minute

While delighted by the character shown by his whole Ulster squad in their last-gasp 20-19 win over Glasgow Warriors on Saturday night, head coach Richie Murphy reserved "special mention" for try-scoring hero David Shanahan.

The northern province were four points behind the reigning URC champions when the clock turned red at Kingspan Stadium but the replacement scrum-half scored the crucial try after four minutes of additional time to ensure his side began their 2024-25 season on a winning note.

Shanahan, 31, made his Ulster debut in 2013 but has had to wait for opportunities, first behind Ruan Pienaar and Paul Marshall, and more recently John Cooney and Nathan Doak.

"He's very much a team man," said Murphy.

"He's very professional, he works really hard. He sets standards all through the week. It's no surprise when someone like that steps up and fills that hole towards the back end of the game.

"We're delighted for him. It's a big moment."

Glasgow were largely the better side across the game's opening 50 minutes, with Ulster's only score of the first half coming off an Aidan Morgan chargedown.

Despite the Warriors spending almost 20 minutes of the second half with 14 men thanks to virtually consecutive yellow cards, Ulster had to be patient in waiting for David McCann's first score after the turn in the 72nd minute and then respond when Glasgow struck back almost immediately.

"It comes down to character and the mentality, not giving up," Murphy added.

"We want to be a team that will throw everything we've got at the opposition and if the opposition are too good for us, we'll that's fine. We'll accept that.

"We didn't throw everything that we had because we were just too inaccurate in many phases of the game, but we showed great character.

"Teams are built around that. We're really happy with the win."

'We found a way'

In what was a significant step up in intensity from pre-season contests against Exeter and Benetton, Ulster were caught somewhat cold early on with Glasgow looking the more physical outfit in the opening exchanges.

With Ulster now heading for South Africa and games against the Lions and Bulls over the next fortnight, Murphy knows his side will need to be better in that area of the game.

"Over the course of the whole game, we're probably a little bit disappointed with how we performed.

"Getting off to a win is what we set out to do [but] Glasgow hit us early on, put us through some good phases. With the strength and power in their carry, they were getting over the gainline.

"That's an area we're going to need to be better at going against the South African teams. Look, we stuck in the fight and we found a way."