The defeat got here off the again of an enormous win over Exeter in Europe, which allowed Ulster to sneak by means of to the last-16 of the Invstec Champions Cup.
There was hope that the Exeter win might present a platform to construct from. As an alternative, Ulster fell flat as they succumbed not solely to the climate, however their Italian opponents.
When again row Nick Timoney was requested if this was one of many worst defeats in his Ulster profession, he replied: “On paper? Yeah, most likely”.
“There may be definitely a consistency factor we have to work on,” stated Timoney, who added he was “fairly upset” on the outcome.
“There have been occasions final week that had been actually poor as effectively. We ran away with the scoreline however that may have masked some issues as effectively.
“Not that we weren’t analysing ourselves, however a few of the issues we bought away with final week by means of scoring some tries within the second half, we did not get away with right here.
“In case you have a look at Zebre’s fame, I might say it does not do them justice. They’re a greater group than individuals give them credit score for.”
When requested if there was a hangover from the Exeter win, Murphy was uncertain of the influence.
“There should not be, and there wasn’t any signal of that.
“We have at all times talked about staying degree on the subject of good performances and poor performances, however they maintain coming and we have to discover out why.
“I feel final week most likely has a small half to play in tonight, however that is not a adequate excuse for skilled rugby gamers or a rugby group.”
