Dan McFarland bemoans ‘too many mistakes’ as Ulster lose PRO14 clash with Leinster

Ulster fell behind after not securing the kick-off and further errors gifted Leinster three penalties as the Dubliners went up 16-0 shortly after the break.

Ulster did get back in the game and were trailing 21-10 when John Cooney had an intercept try disallowed.

“I think we notched it up and looked more like ourselves, in the context of losing we were happy with that,” said McFarland.

“This week we couldn’t get out of our own way in terms of making errors and giving away penalties.

“We couldn’t get any rhythm. When we got that rhythm, we look pretty good but you can’t sustain the pressure on a team like Leinster if you keep making mistakes.

“To be honest, we felt as if we could come back but that required us not making errors. We made less in the second half but there were some big ones, including backfield errors that cost us a try in the first half and cost us a try in the second half.”

Despite his frustrations, McFarland was pleased his side were much improved in the second half.

“We did a lot of good work in the second-half but we probably aren’t where we need to be at,” he conceded.

“We’ve a semi-final to play and we’re one of only four teams in our league who does. We’re happy that we have another game to play.

“The effort, as I say, and the intensity was there but we kept tripping ourselves up with mistakes. They’re not decision making (errors), it’s basic ball retention. It’s things the players are capable of doing.

“If you’re losing the ball in contact at this level, it’s not because you don’t have the skill but it might be the nature of the emphasis in training is that I haven’t put enough importance on it.

“Maybe we haven’t created the scenarios in training that put them under that pressure so when a team really stresses it, it becomes an issue. It’s not something that takes six months to solve, lets hope it takes two training sessions.”

Had Cooney’s try stood Ulster world have reduced Leinster’s lead to one score going into the final five minutes, and McFarland disagreed with the official’s decision to chalk it off.

“What was borderline? I didn’t see it as borderline. I haven’t spoken to a single person who thought that was offside. I don’t understand how that was offside.”

McFarland wants Ulster to reproduce the form they are showing in training when they travel to Edinburgh for the Pro14 semi final on Saturday night.

“I don’t have an answer for why we made that many errors in the first-half. I’m watching the guys in training and we’re playing at an intensity level and a speed that would be faster than anything we play in without those errors,” he said.

“One of the things is ball security. We’re losing the ball in contact which is not something you see in training. Perhaps that’s something I’ve been remiss about, not emphasising that we need to be better at not having it stripped or losing it in the tackle.”