Murphy’s Ulster Brimming With Intent For Bilbao Mission

Ulster head coach Richie Murphy feels his squad have some ‘unfinished business’ to take care of as they look to end their season with some long-awaited silverware in the form of the EPCR Challenge Cup. Final tickets are on sale here.

Murphy’s men have had to quickly put their disappointment at missing out on the BKT United Rugby Championship play-offs behind them, as Friday’s Challenge Cup final against Montpellier in Bilbao (kick-off 8pm Irish time) offers a big opportunity to add to the province’s trophy cabinet.

This will be Ulster’s first final appearance since the 2012 Heineken Cup decider against Leinster at Twickenham, while their most recent title wins were the historic European Cup success in 1999, and the Celtic Cup and League triumphs in 2003 and 2006, respectively.

Victory at San Mamés Stadium on Friday night would come with the added bonus of securing Champions Cup rugby for next season, something which slipped out of their grasp with an agonising late defeat to Glasgow Warriors, coupled with Munster’s final round win over the Lions.

Speaking ahead of the Ulstermen’s departure for Bilbao, Murphy said: “I suppose it’s not the position we want to be in (to have it as our final game of the season). We want to still be in the quarter-finals of the league, but that was taken away from us at the weekend.

“So it gives us full focus on what’s ahead, which is an unbelievable achievement to go to a final and make sure that we give the very best account of ourselves as we possibly can.

“That’s the message this morning with the players. A lot of these players, it could be their first and it could be their last time they play in a European Cup final, so it’s really important that we attack the week like we always do.”

Ulster will take on Montpellier without their captain Iain Henderson, who is suspended following his red card against the DHL Stormers, and their list of injury-enforced absentees unfortunately includes Stuart McCloskey (hamstring), Jacob Stockdale, who underwent surgery on a facial fracture, and Rob Herring (calf).

However, in encouraging news, Robert Baloucoune is ‘doing well’ and is ‘back in full training’ according to Murphy, as the Ireland winger bids to make a quicker-than-expected return from an elbow injury. Back rower David McCann has also resumed full training following a knee issue.

Despite their failure to finish in the URC’s top eight, Ulster took plenty of positives out of overcoming Exeter Chiefs 29-12 at the semi-final stage of the Challenge Cup at the start of the month. Their attack continued to impress over the past fortnight, with 10 tries scored across the games against the Stormers and Glasgow.

Acknowledging how significant the showdown with Montpellier is, dubbed season-defining by some, Murphy commented: “I think it’s pretty big considering the last time, I know it was a European Cup final, but last time was 2012. It is a long time waiting, so it’s nice to finally get there.

“I think from this group’s point of view, with the rugby that we’ve played throughout the season, I think we feel like we’ve a little bit of unfinished business and maybe we can try and do something special this Friday.”

This was Ulster’s first time competing in the Challenge Cup from the start of the season, after previously dropping down to the second tier competition from the Investec Champions Cup in both 2021 and 2024 when they reached the semi-finals and quarter-finals, respectively.

Eighteen teams, in three pools of six, kicked off the 2025/26 campaign back in December, with Montpellier going unbeaten with four wins out of four to top Pool 1, which included an action-packed home encounter with Connacht that they won 33-31.

Ulster, meanwhile, accounted for Racing 92 (61-7) and Stade Français Paris (26-19) at Affidea Stadium, and were awarded a 28-0 victory over the Toyota Cheetahs followed January’s cancelled fixture in the snow-hit Netherlands, as they advanced to the round of 16 as Pool 3 winners.

Both finalists had a ‘home run’ in the knockout rounds through to Bilbao, with Murphy’s charges beating the Ospreys (28-24), La Rochelle (41-24), and Exeter to book their trip to northern Spain. Coached by Joan Caudullo, Montpellier were 18-12 semi-final winners over the Dragons, having previously ended the hopes of Perpignan (53-13) and Connacht (45-22).

Competing on two fronts has proven difficult for Ulster to juggle during the URC run-in, with untimely injuries and suspensions hampering them as they lost three of their last four league fixtures. However, Friday’s clash gives them a chance to wipe the slate clean and right some wrongs.

“Ultimately our performance in the back end of the league was disappointing, where we finished,” admitted Murphy, whose contract extension with Ulster – up to 2028 – was announced in January. “But to get 52 competition points, fourteen more points than last year, is an improvement.

“50 points has never been outside the top eight before, so I suppose that’s a difficult one to take because it’s only one year, you know what I mean, that it’s ever happened.

“At the moment our squad, in relation to the experience in our squad, we’re probably not quite at that level where we can dip in and out of two different competitions, and make sure that week in, week out, every Friday or every Saturday, that you’re at your very best.

“Injuries have played a part, and some of the decisions that have gone against us have played a part, so we have to look inward and go, ‘Right, well, what can we do better?’, and there’s bits in that that we’ll really concentrate hard on to try to fix this week in order to make sure we’re really good in the final.”

In terms of indiviual performers in this season’s Challenge Cup, Nathan Doak has led the scoring for Ulster with 31 points, closely followed by his half-back partner Jack Murphy on 27. Zac Ward has starred on the wing with four tries, the same amount as Montpellier duo Alexander Masibaka and Melvyn Rates.

The 27-year-old Ward has beaten a total of 30 defenders, and made 12 line breaks and 26 tackle breaks  – for three notable competition highs – and is second for running metres with 529.9, just ahead of the currently sidelined Stockdale (474.8).

Montpellier’s France-capped second row Florian Verhaeghe leads the way with 10 offloads, and is also joint-first in the tournament for lineout takes with 32. Challenge Cup champions in 2016 and 2021, they are this season’s top try scorers with 36 (nineteen of which have originated from their lineout).