Devine on Ulster move, Sexton and being 'desperate' to win

It was a phone call that made the difference.

When Matthew Devine was weighing up his future, a chat with Ulster head coach Richie Murphy proved to be crucial.

The scrum-half had decided to leave Connacht, his home province, at the end of last season and was looking for a new club.

Devine had worked with Murphy and Willie Faloon with Ireland's under-20s, and also with Ulster attack coach Mark Sexton while he was at Connacht.

Those familiar faces helped the transition.

"Myself and dad met Rory Best [Ulster's general manager] and both agreed that we were very impressed with him. He seemed like a great lad and like he really wanted me there.

"The biggest thing that attracted me to going up was when Richie was on the phone to me and he said he thinks there's a lot more in me.

"That was the most exciting thing for me and something I clung to, and I said I want to play for him."

Devine said that Sexton - brother of former Ireland captain Jonathan - has had a "massive influence" in my career.

Now Ulster's attack coach, Sexton worked with the 24-year-old in Connacht's academy and senior team, as well as with the Ireland under-20s.

"When he came in I was maybe 18, 19 and I had a bit of ability but I was pretty raw so he would have polished things like my passing and my kicking and my game management and my game understanding and he would have been massive on that.

"The standards he sort of held me to was a big thing. He wouldn't accept a bad pass or a bad kick.

"When you're held to that standard when you're 19, 20, or 21, you sort of embrace that yourself, take it on and it becomes part of your own personality."

Devine added it was a "massive thing" to play under coaches who have their belief in a player.

"I always thought that I could do well, but when you see somebody else, whose opinion you respect and knows the game inside and out, and they think you can do well and they're pushing you and believe in you, that just gives you more confidence.

"It gives you confidence to then go and put the effort in to work hard to improve because you think there's a pot of gold at the end.

"If this guy thinks I'm good enough, then I am good enough, so it's like a snowball."

When Devine signed for Ulster it was on an initial one-year deal, instead of a long-term contract that might be expected of an Irish-qualified player.

That came down to him wanting to be playing as much as possible, but he's happy with how things are going in Belfast so far.

"That's the main thing for me with the one-year deal, it gives you freedom if it doesn't work out or whatever else, but I'm very happy up there," he said.

"I feel like I'm going very well and I've been involved in every match so far this season, so that's the biggest thing for me."

With Nathan Doak away on Ireland duty, Devine is set to play a key role as Ulster look to secure their first victory in the United Rugby Championship this season.

An opening loss at home to Edinburgh was followed by two draws, against Glasgow and Munster, and Ulster fell short in their comeback against the Bulls in the first game of a South African double-header.

Each of the matches have been decided by small margins as Ulster fought back on each occasion.

Murphy's side are back in action on Saturday [12:45 BST] against the Stormers in Cape Town, and Devine says Ulster are "desperate" to pick up that elusive victory.

"There's no hiding away from it and we're desperate for that first win," Devine said.

"It's one of those, when you lose a match and the temptation might be there to sort of reel it in at the wheel, but I don't think that's the answer either.

"We're going to stick to our plan and there's massive belief and trust in each other, so we're just going to stay focused on that and hopefully the wins will take care of themselves."