Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Belfast support is Jor-dropping claims Murphy
JORDI MURPHY never really enjoyed his trips to Ulster as a Leinster player but now he’s in the home dressingroom he insists it’s “contagious”.
The flanker won the Pro14 and European Cup double with Leinster last season but admits he always found Belfast a tough place to play.
Now he’s in the home dressingroom at Kingspan Stadium, he says: “the crowd are amazing.”
“It was always tough coming up here and having that against you but it definitely helps to have it behind you.
“You get a serious lift everytime they’re behind you. It’s contagious.
“Once you get a lift from them and start putting together a few passages of play then the noise grows again and it can be quite intimidating for visiting teams.”
Murphy, 27, was yesterday named in the Ireland squad for next month’s autumn series.
Last week’s European defeat away to Racing 92 brought Ulster back to earth after an opening win over Leicester Tigers. But the back-to-back inter-pro defeats before that, means that Ulster can’t afford to take a backward step in tomorrow’s Pro14 home clash against the Dragons.
He declared: “We have to have a winning mentality. We had two disappointing results before the league so we want to go and put out a big strong performance.”
Meanwhile Ulster’s Springbok flanker Jean Deysel, 33, has been forced to retire with immediate effect due to persistent leg injuries.