There were mixed emotions for Head Coach Dan McFarland as
Ulster secured five points against the Southern Kings on Saturday night at the
Kingspan Stadium.
The win puts Ulster into second place behind Leinster in
Conference B, however the loss of Louis Ludik, Marty Moore and Darren Cave adds
to the growing list of injury woes ahead of Saturday’s huge European Champions
Cup quarter-final clash with Leinster.
Saturday’s fresh injuries leave Ulster depleted in
midfield, with Luke Marshall still not fully fit
following an ACL injury and James Hume ruled out after breaking his ankle in
training last week.
“I have got to wait and see but you saw the same as me and it did not look good,” said McFarland of fullback Louis Ludik’s injury after he was helped off the pitch by the medical team just nine minutes into the game.
“It’s still too early to tell but we will have to assess the injuries and see how Louis is and how Darren is. Obviously James (Hume) is out. We’ll have a look at Lukey and see how he’s going on.”
McFarland
joked he may have to call upon former Ireland centre and Ulster’s defence
coach, Jared Payne, to fill the gap in midfield.
“Jared
Payne’s wondering whether he should play, but we’re saying definitely not –
you’ve had your chance,” laughed McFarland.
On a
more positive note, McFarland praised Ulster number eight, Marcell Coetzee on
his return to action from a hamstring injury sustained in the last European
outing against the Leicester Tigers.
“It was good to have him
back and he went well tonight. Marcell’s been a strong performer for us this
year and it was disappointing for him and us that he hasn’t been able to play
this last while but it was great to see him back out there and at his bullish
self.”
Despite some superb
individual performances, McFarland reflected on his sides rustiness and
tendency to turn the ball over or cough it up at crucial moments. Indeed,
although the win was somewhat spluttering, Ulster ran in 5 tries tuart McCloskey,
Rob Lyttle, Robert Baloucoune, Marcell Coetzee and John Andrew.
The front row did well –
Herring was dynamic in his ball carrying and was solid at the set-piece. Andy
Warwick put in a serious shift, tackling well can carrying over the hard yards.
It was reassuring too, to see Herbst come on at loose-head and create issues
for the King’s scrum.
Rob Lyttle looked dangerous in attack, squeezing his way through the King’s defence on a number of occasions – enough to earn him the man of the match award. Michael Lowry and Bobby Baloucoune are improving with every game they play and hardly put a foot wrong. Stuart McCloskey will have divided opinion – his size and power were a definite asset to Ulster however, his once frustrating habit of forcing offloads has now seemingly turned into an inability to pass. He took his try remarkably well however, and remains an important focal point of Ulster’s attack, often drawing in several defenders.
Saturday’s win completes
an impressive run in the PRO14 for Ulster, taking 21 points from a possible 25.
Ulster now have three games remaining in the PRO14 with away games against
Glasgow and Edinburgh, and a home fixture with Leinster.
“In the forefront of our minds is that
we have to go to Glasgow and Edinburgh with their Scottish internationals back
and we have the best team in Europe in the last game of the season, so we’re
under no illusions to the size of the task ahead of us,” said McFarland.
“But we’ve put ourselves into the
position that we said we wanted to be in.”
Of course, Ulster’s focus will now
change swiftly to Saturday’s Champion’s Cup quarter-final clash with Leinster
at the Aviva stadium against defending champions Leinster. Although it is hoped
Ulster’s fourth consecutive PRO14 win will give Ulster significant momentum
ahead of this weekend, McFarland notes that, while Leinster rested a number of
key players in their game against Edinburgh this weekend, that was a luxury
Ulster could not afford.
“I
think it is a question of the context,” he said. “Leinster are top,
so in the context of the conference itself it does not matter even if it
obviously matters to them that they lost in Edinburgh and they’ll be
disappointed in that. They were able to rest a lot of their players.”
“We
are in a different position, we are in a ridiculously difficult conference
where there is a fight going on and we needed to make sure that we got the
maximum points. We do not have as big a squad, guys step up and they
play.”
Despite
some excellent performances this season, particularly in the Champions Cup
competition, McFarland is confident Ulster have a lot more to offer. Indeed,
Ulster will now focus their preparation on producing a memorable performance on
Saturday against Leinster, who are considered by many to be strong favourites.
“We have put in some good
performances in Europe already, but recently we have not strung together a
really good 80 minutes yet. In order to win next week we will. There is
literally no doubt about that.”
“We will have to be at our
best,” added McFarland.
Indeed, Ulster will
require an exceptional performance to challenge this great Leinster side. It is worth bearing in mind Leinster have
injury problems of their own – Robbie Henshaw, Devin Toner and Josh van der Flier
are all expected absent and several players will still be reeling from
Ireland’s six nations capitulation.
For Ulster, finding a centre partner for Stuart McCloskey will be crucial as
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