'Great to see Ulster players stand up for Ireland'

Ulster head coach Richie Murphy says he hopes his side can benefit from the confidence his international players have gained in Ireland camp during the latter stages of the domestic season.

Four Ulster players - Stuart McCloskey, Robert Baloucoune, Tom O'Toole and Nick Timoney - featured in Ireland's thumping 42-21 Six Nations win over England, with McCloskey and Baloucoune widely praised for their performances.

While Murphy does not have that quartet's services for Saturday's United Rugby Championship game at Ospreys (19:45 GMT), Ireland squad members Nathan Doak, Cormac Izuchukwu, Jude Postlethwaite, Tom Stewart and Bryn Ward are expected to feature.

"They've enjoyed their time in camp and it's been great to see the Irish team do so well at that weekend and our boys within that really stand up," Murphy told BBC Sport NI.

"Our A team had a really good win against Munster last weekend as well so the atmosphere in our training camp is really good at the moment."

Murphy added: "Their confidence is high as you can see and hopefully we can get some good wins on the back of that."

Saturday's game at Electric Brewery Field will be Ulster's first since a 21-14 win over Cardiff on 31 January.

Ulster are fourth in the URC table and will face Saturday's opponents in the Challenge Cup round of 16 in April as Murphy's side chase silverware on two fronts.

"We're coming into the business end of the season, we know how important these points will be over the next number of weeks," added Murphy.

"We've nine games left with a possible five knockout games. It's a really exciting time. We have young guys coming up after doing well in that A game looking for senior spots and those international players, when they come back it's really important they bring us forward.

"There's a feelgood factor. It's important we keep focused and keep our feet on the ground and keep doing the things that got us in this position in the first place."