A committed display by Ulster on Friday saw
them overwhelm the hosts, Edinburgh, to secure a bonus point win and book a
home play-off game in the knock-out stages of the Guinness Pro14.
McFarland acknowledged that his side’s
disappointment following last weekend’s away defeat to Glasgow served as
motivation ahead of Friday night’s important clash with Edinburgh.
“We had a big debrief on Monday, there was a
bit of misery and a lot of humble pie, which was deserved. We came out, took what
we could learn from it and moved on.”
Indeed, Ulster’s coach attributes his side’s
focused and fierce performance as the product of hard work and mental
preparation in the week preceding Friday’s must-win game.
“We knew we had a massive task this week, to
come to our fellow Champions Cup quarter-finalists and win. In the end, the
bonus point was a testament to the hard work and the mentality of the guys
during the week and what they put on the pitch against a really good Edinburgh
team.”
McFarland also highlighted the improvement made
in Ulster’s set-piece which provided his side with a solid platform from which
to attack.
“We were a bit messy last week around our
set-piece but there was a big improvement. We did a lot of work on the scrum in
the week. We knew that was going to be titanic — it was not going to win the
game for us but could certainly lose the game if we let Edinburgh get on top of
us.”
“We also needed possession. Last week, it did
not look good, but we did play some really good rugby. The bottom line is that
when you lose a lot of lineouts, as we did then, you cannot get a foothold in
the game. In this game, we were consistently able to get a foothold.”
Ulster’s pack was bolstered by the return of
man-of-the-match Iain Henderson, who put in a typically powerful and aggressive
performance, helping the Ulster pack to dominate.
Ulster’s power up-front was matched by the
ruthless finishing of Ulster’s young wingers, Rob Lyttle and Robert Baloucoune
who both took their tries well.
McFarland praised his team’s performance,
noting that the pride and purpose Ulster played with on Friday night signals a
growing confidence in the squad.
“It is really important for the club, we are a team that wants consistently to compete for championships and to do that, you have to be in
play-offs. ”
“There is the dual aspect of also getting
Champions Cup qualification, which is done now. That is very important as well.”
Ulster’s big-game nous saw them in control and
dominant in every department for most of the game. McFarland will hope his side
are able to recreate this formidable form in their remaining important games
this season – a challenge the squad will relish.
“We enjoyed the preparation for our
Champions Cup quarter-final and we’ll enjoy preparing for a PRO14
quarter-final.”
Ulster will now focus their preparations on a huge game against Connacht in the
Match Highlights:
