With O'Connor on board, Ulster aim to tighten up against familiar Connacht faces

Crosshaven prop signs on for duty as head coach Richie Murphy plots a 'very unique' showdown against his son Ben

Thu, 10 Oct, 2024 - 00:01

Tom Nelson

Crosshaven native Bryan O’Connor has signed on at Ulster as they bid to beef up their options at tighthead prop in the wake of Marty Moore’s recent retirement.

The 25-year-old former Gloucester player has recently arrived at the Kingspan Stadium after joining the northern province following a spell at English Championship club Bedford Blues.

O’Connor, who can play both sides of the scrum, was part of Munster’s sub-Academy and featured for the province the former British and Irish Cup after making his mark in the AIL for UCC.

The versatile prop has also represented Ireland at U20s level at the 2018 World Cup and spent time at London Irish as well as three seasons at English Premiership side Gloucester prior to hooking up with Bedford.

Ulster’s scrum has been under pressure this season – they also lost double World Cup winning loosehead Steven Kitshoff who returned home early to rejoin the Stormers – and a largely inexperienced front row suffered a very uncomfortable afternoon last weekend against the mighty Bulls’ eight in Pretoria.

O’Connor will provide another front row option for Ulster coach Richie Murphy though it is unclear if the new arrival will be available for this weekend’s interprovincial against Connacht in Belfast.

Reacting to his move to Ulster, O’Connor said: “I’m delighted to sign with the province and I’m looking forward to getting integrated into the squad. I feel I can add to the group here and can improve my game under the coaching staff.

“I’m excited to get going for the rest of the season."

Ulster Rugby’s Head of Recruitment and Rugby Operations, Bryn Cunningham added: “Bryan has had a few years playing over in England and we feel, with his physical profile, there was an opportunity to bring him in and add to our squad depth at tighthead.”

Meanwhile, Murphy’s squad will be going all-out to avoid a third-straight defeat in four games when they take on the westerners though the Ulster head coach has an unusual situation to deal with as his son Ben looks likely to feature for the opposition on Saturday evening.

“(It’s) a very unique situation,” explained Ulster coach Murphy. “And he’s not giving much away as I don’t know whether he’s playing or not at the weekend, he won’t tell me.

“He’s had a really good start to the season since he moved down to Galway in the summer and has fitted in really well down there, he has been given an opportunity and taken it and that’s really good to see him doing so well.

“But not this week,” he added. “We had a conversation last night on the phone. Myself and my wife were coming home and he rang us. There was a bit of banter back and forth.

“He’s not telling me much, he’s not telling his mum much either, which is surprising. So, we are not getting any information out of Connacht. He is very loyal to his team.”

Selection wise, centre Jude Postlethwaite is available for Ulster after he was released early from the Emerging Ireland tour. Stuart McCloskey will miss the game after picking up an issue in South Africa while longer-termers Robert Baloucoune, Rob Herring and Tom Stewart are still sidelined.

After two straight defeats and just the one win in opening day at home to champions Glasgow, Ulster currently find themselves 13th in the URC table with just five points.

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