Ulster players 'massively up for' Glasgow opener

Richie Murphy's side will travel to South Africa for two URC games after hosting Glasgow

Ulster head coach Richie Murphy says his players are "massively up for" Saturday's United Rugby Championship season opener against champions Glasgow in Belfast.

The Irish province fell at the quarter-final hurdle last term after finishing sixth in the league standings and face a tough curtain-raiser to the 2024-25 campaign at Kingspan Stadium, live on BBC Sounds and BBC Radio Foyle.

"The first game is always a big game and it’s a tough one but in the URC now there are very few easy games," said Murphy.

"Glasgow at home definitely sharpens the mind. You know that if you’re off you could be caught but we’re not looking at it in that way, we’re looking at it as our start to the season."

Murphy believes a new season brings fresh challenges and some sense of the unknown.

"Like any first week you’re nervous. You’re not quite sure what you’re going to face because pre-season only tells you so much.

"Glasgow will probably be a very different team to what they were the last couple of weeks so we’ve been preparing to play the champions, who beat the Bulls [in the URC final] a couple of months ago and beat Munster away [in the semi-finals]."

'A big test to see where we are'

The former Ireland Under-20s coach knows Glasgow possess a number of attributes which make them difficult opponents.

"They’re a very strong side, they play a good brand of rugby, like to keep ball in hand, are very physical, so it’s going to be a big test to see where we are," added Murphy.

"But we’re in a good place and our boys are massively up for the game, really looking forward to getting out in front of that home crowd again."

The Ulster head coach emphasises that pre-season preparation has been good and the young players in the squad are proving a positive asset.

"We’ve done a really good pre-season, we’ve got some really good gains in and around our physical development and in and around our fitness. Our ability to play is improving all the time, so we’re excited to see that.

"We’ve a little bit of inexperience in some areas but with at comes excitement too, not maybe a fearless feeling but you don’t know what you don’t know so you get out there and you have a go.

"We’ve been quite good at setting up how we want to play and what kind of team we want to be and the boys are responding very well and working really hard to deliver that.”

Henderson missed the latter part of last season with a toe injury

Ulster skipper Iain Henderson is fit and available for the Glasgow encounter and says there is "huge excitement" in the camp.

"We’re in a good spot. We’re definitely not the finished article yet but we have the makings of what could be a phenomenal group of players," said the Ireland forward.

"We are a tight knit bunch but I think there is still a phenomenal amount of work for us to do together.

"When you get older you maybe have a slightly different perspective on things but definitely the excitement is still there."