Alan O’Connor says Ulster undone by missed chances against Glasgow in United Rugby Championship

The 17-11 defeat against Glasgow at Scotstoun was Ulster’s third defeat in their last four domestic league games.

Ulster remain third in the table but lost ground on the top two while the chasing pack narrowed the gap in the race to secure a coveted home quarter-final.

Leinster’s bonus point win over the Dragons put them 22 points clear of Ulster, while the Stormers’ victory at the Bulls put them 10 points clear of the Kingspan side.

Glasgow moved up to fourth, a point behind Ulster and Munster have closed the gap to two points although head coach Dan McFarland’s men have a game in hand over the other teams in the top five, which they’ll play in South Africa on Saturday against the Sharks.

Skipper Alan O’Connor believed Glasgow were more clinical in the wet and windy conditions at Scotstoun on Friday night.

“The wind did die down in the second half which made it a level playing field,” he said. “On that 4G surface its is nearly harder to play on than grass with the ball being that greasy so both teams found it hard to hold onto the ball at times.

“I think Glasgow capitalised way better on the chances they had, and their execution was better.

“We didn’t really capitalise on our possession, our set piece let us down as well so it was disappointing and fair play to Glasgow, the chances they had they took.

“They kept to their field position and kept kicking to the corner and it paid off for them in the end.”

Ulster wasted several good chances in the first half which they were ultimately puinshed for.

“We stick to our guns and we know what we are good at, we were holding onto the ball quite well, getting held up over the line for myself was further frustrating,” added O’Connor.

“We know what we are capable of when we get into that 22, we stick to our guns and normally have a nice plan for it and it didn’t really pay off but fair play to Glasgow – they defended hard.”

There will be totally different conditions in Durban this weekend when Ulster will have to deal with the heat and the humidity, but the Sharks will have to cope without their Springbok players as they are on a rest period.

“It is the other extreme I suppose but we played at altitude in 33 degrees earlier in the year against the Lions, it is something that we have done before,” said O’Connor.

“We know that we can go over there and get a result as well like we have done before. “It is an exciting challenge and we have to pick ourselves up pretty quick because the top eight to 10 in the league is really tight.”