Murphy, who was confirmed in the role permanently on Monday, is well aware of the challenge posed by Leinster but believes from his own experience, the European Champions Cup finalists will wary of their visit to Belfast this weekend.
“Playing Leinster is always difficult, no matter where you play them,” Murphy said.
“I’ve been in the Leinster camp coming up to Ulster many a time, and they don’t find it an easy place to come.
“If the ground can be as good as it has been in the last two home games, I think they [the crowd] can have a big part to play in the game, and us, as Ulster, need to make sure we turn up and start from minute on, and try to put them under some pressure.”
When the two sides met in Dublin on January 1, Ulster held on for a famous 22-21 win. For Saturday’s meeting, Murphy will be without five of the starters from that game at the RDS.
“We’re a little bit under pressure in terms of some of the players we’re missing but it always gives other lads an opportunity to come out and stake their claim for the jersey.
“We know that they’ve got some class players – no matter who turns up – so it’s going to be a big test for us to see where we are at.
“There are definitely certain elements of our game that we are not happy with at the moment but behind closed doors we are working really hard to try and fix that.”
