Ulster arrived in Cape Town still searching for their first league win of the campaign, and the return of James Hume and Rob Herring at least gave Richie Murphy something positive to work with. In a season where selection has already been stretched, that mattered. The problem is that the wider picture has not changed much: Ulster came into this game having lost two and drawn two of their first four league matches, and they were still trying to turn effort into something more decisive.
Hume’s return was especially notable because it marked his first appearance of the season after injury. Herring, meanwhile, was back after both players last featured at the end of last season. For a side that had also been weakened by eight unavailable players, those returns were timely rather than transformational. Ulster had already been disrupted by the absence of players involved in the previous defeat to the Bulls, and by international call-ups that had pulled more bodies away from the squad.
Selection changes and the bigger problem
Murphy made 12 alterations for the Stormers match, which tells its own story. This was not a settled team being gently rotated; it was a side forced into significant change while trying to stay afloat in the United Rugby Championship. The return of Hume and Herring helped restore some experience and structure, but it did not fully solve the practical issue Ulster face right now, which is depth.
That is why the context around the game matters as much as the team sheet. Next month, Andy Farrell’s squad for four Nations Championship games was already in international camp, which only added to the list of players unavailable. Ulster have enough quality to make selection decisions feel meaningful, but not enough depth to absorb that many absences without the shape of the side changing dramatically.
There is also a competitive edge to all of this. Ulster were not coming into Cape Town as a team in crisis, but they were clearly a team under pressure. Two defeats and two draws from four league games is not catastrophic, yet it leaves little room for drift. A trip to face the Stormers in Cape Town was always going to test the team’s resilience, and the returns of Hume and Herring were valuable mostly because they reminded Ulster of what their best version can still look like.
If there is an encouraging reading, it is that the squad still has players capable of changing the tone of a match. If there is a warning, it is that Ulster cannot keep leaning on patchwork selections and expect the results to correct themselves automatically. The returning names are important. The record, though, is still the record.
