Ulster could end the season without any silverware and it would still mark a “transformation” in fortunes simply to be in contention, according to RT\u00c9 rugby analyst Bernard Jackman.<\/p>\n
After seeing off Ronan O’Gara\u2019s La Rochelle last weekend at Kingspan Stadium, Richie Murphy\u2019s side are two games away from Challenge Cup silverware, though the task is a significant one given Exeter Chiefs, and most likely, Montpellier, stand in their way of European success.<\/p>\n
On the domestic front, Ulster occupy third spot in the standings, a point ahead of Leinster with only Stormers and leaders Glasgow Warriors looking down on them in the BKT URC table.<\/p>\n
It demonstrates just how far the province has come in a year.<\/p>\n
Ulster advanced to the Champions Cup knockout stages last term despite losing three of their four matches before eventual champions Bordeaux ended their interest in emphatic style.<\/p>\n
The URC campaign was a sorry one, with just seven wins all season enroute to a 14th place finish. Only Zebre \u2013 who they lost at home to \u2013 and a woeful Dragons were worse off.<\/p>\n
Speaking on the RT\u00c9 Rugby podcast, former Leinster and Ireland hooker Jackman was asked whether Ulster have realistic ambitions of ending a silverware drought that dates back to the 2006 Celtic League as it was previously known.<\/p>\n
“The URC will be tough,” Jackman said. “Leinster and Glasgow probably still have their number, but they are well capable of beating Exeter.<\/p>\n
“They were good against Munster, but just got over the line against Benetton (Challenge Cup quarter-final), Henry Slade with a late kick to win it.<\/p>\n
“Richie (Murphy) will have seen a lot of elements of Exeter in that game that they will feel they can target, but Montpellier is a different challenge.<\/p>\n
“The sheer size, what they did to Connacht maul wise, I think Ulster might struggle with that. And Montpellier are playing for each other, which hasn\u2019t always been the case in recent seasons.”<\/p>\n
Ulster\u2019s last visit to a final was the 2020 URC decider, a game played behind-closed-doors.<\/p>\n
Even reaching a final in either competition would be a significant achievement for Murphy and his charges.<\/p>\n
“From where they were last year, in losing at home to Zebre, the turnaround has been sensational. To even be talking about silverware within seven or eight months is a huge transformation.” <\/p>\n
Listen to the RT\u00c9 Rugby podcast on Apple Podcasts<\/a>, Spotify<\/a> or wherever you get your podcasts<\/a>, and email us at sportpodcasts@rte.ie<\/p>\n We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences<\/a><\/p>\n Follow our live blog on Ireland v Italy in the Women’s Six Nations on Saturday from 5.40pm, and listen to live commentary on Saturday Sport on RT\u00c9 Radio 1<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ulster could end the season without any silverware and it would still mark a “transformation” in fortunes simply…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":399837,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":["post-399836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=399836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399836\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/399837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=399836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=399836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=399836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}