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Having not played since their 49-31 loss to the Lions in South Africa on October 25, Murphy’s side will aim to return to winning ways in front of their home fans at Avidia Stadium on Friday after a five-week break.
Ulster sit fifth in the URC table with three wins from their first four matches.
“No matter what games you play at URC, they are really tough games. Gone are the days when Italian teams had a soft touch,” Murphy emphasized.
“The Benetton team is very dense, good players and a huge budget.
“I’m not quite sure what they’re going to send. I think they had 12 players playing for Italy last weekend, and they had a team playing for Zebre as well, so they had two teams preparing.”
“We just have to look after ourselves. We’ve had a really good block. The last three weeks have been excellent and the players have worked hard in training, so we’re looking forward to getting back to that.” [on] Friday night.”
After a long spell out of action, Ulster now enter a 10-game series that will include six URC matches and participation in the Challenge Cup on the European stage.
The county will host Racing 92 and Stade Francais in European Rugby’s second tier, traveling to face Cardiff and the Panthers.
“Look at the two French teams we will face at home. They are in the top seven in France, so they are top-tier teams.
“But I think it’s really important that we look at this block of 10 games and think about what’s most important to us. I think it’s really important that we make our way up the URC and get to the top level in Europe.
“That’s one of our big goals. Those Challenge Cup games are really important but there will be times in this block where we have to rotate our squad and rely on some of the younger players coming through. It will be exciting to see that.”
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