Ulster must 'now settle into the league' - Murphy

Richie Murphy's side will face Connacht in their next URC game

Ulster head coach Richie Murphy has emphasised that his team must now "get settled into the league" after his youthful squad suffered back-to-back defeats by the Lions and the Bulls on their two-match tour to South Africa in the United Rugby Championship.

Prior to travelling to the southern hemisphere, the Irish province edged out Glasgow in their opening match in Belfast and will next host Connacht on their home patch on Saturday 12 October.

"It's a difficult time but we'll learn from it and move on. We're quite happy about the experience of South Africa, now it's about going home and getting settled into the league and try to build some league points because we need a win now," said Murphy after Saturday's 41-27 defeat by the Bulls in Pretoria.

"We have a skilful team and our set-piece will come on as we build into this and we'll get a little bit more comfortable.

"If we can get a little bit more primary possession we'll cause teams a lot of trouble."

The Bulls, runners-up in last year's URC, ran in seven tries, while Ulster fell just short of clinching a bonus point as they scored three, including a stunning individual effort by Jacob Stockdale and well-worked touchdowns by Ben Carson and Stewart Moore.

"I thought at times today we were really good. Some of our attack has moved on from last week," reflected Murphy.

"We were under pressure a lot in and around the scrum and at the set-piece. We've got a lot of young lads out there playing their second and third caps for their province. Towards the middle or the back end of the season it will stand to us."