Dan McFarland calls Ulster ‘terrible’ in late defeat to Munster

Dan McFarland was brutally honest as he watched his Ulster side snatch a 15-14 defeat from the jaws of victory against Irish rivals Munster at Kingspan Stadium.
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Ulster led 14-5 with six minutes remaining in the fixture - but a Ben Healy penalty reduced that gap and the Munster replacement scored a try with the clock in the red then knocked over the conversion to win it for the Limerick-based club.

“We were terrible,” said the head coach in his honest post-game assessment. “I don’t want to take anything away from Munster but if ever there was a game where we decided our own fate then that was it.

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“We had the ball 11 times in their 22 and we scored once and lost the ball on 10 occasions.

Ulster head coach Dan McFarlandUlster head coach Dan McFarland
Ulster head coach Dan McFarland

"I think I’m right in saying that.

“The only time we kept the ball through any number of phases we scored a great try.

"We lost three lineouts and we were profligate with the ball on a lot of occasions and, to be fair to them, they looked magnificent when they held on to the ball.

"And they got the ball three times in our 22 and scored twice and that was the game.”

It was a fourth defeat in five games for Ulster.

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“I don’t want to call it a crisis,” added McFarland. “In the second half against Leinster we lost a big lead.

"We went away to Sale with terrible travel against a team who put 40 on last season’s champions, we got doused.

"And against La Rochelle we got hit for 40 minutes and then we hit them for 40 minutes.

“Last week against Conn we were good for most of that game and then we suffered from what we had tonight we managed to squeak over the line because of the dominance of the first 70 minutes.

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"Today we didn’t have the dominance of the first 70 minutes.

“We had pressure and plenty of opportunities but we didn’t take any of them.

“The bottom line is that you take two of those opps and the score is 24-5 with 10 to go and the game is gone.

“We had plenty of opp to score 20 or 30 points.

"But we weren’t good enough to do that.”

Ulster had survived a missed conversion last week in Connacht to gain victory but Healy had a simpler kick after he barged over with the clock in the red and he made no mistake to give the Thomond Park side a much-needed win.

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The defeat puts Ulster eight points behind second-placed Stormers in the race for a top-two spot and chance to host a home semi-final.

After an opening 15 minutes that lacked structure and was littered by mistakes from both teams, Ulster scrum half John Cooney broke the deadlock with a penalty after Alex Kendellen was punished for not rolling away at the ruck.

An off-the-ball tackle on James Hume by Munster prop Roman Salanoa allowed Cooney to double Ulster’s lead with his second penalty on 19 minutes.

Munster blindside flanker Jack O’Donoghue was next to fall foul of the referee as he was caught offside on his own 10-metre line, allowing Cooney to land the long-range penalty five minutes later.

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Ulster were dealt a serve blow on 29 minutes with tight prop Marty Moore having to leave the pitch on a medical cart with a knee injury.

Ulster hooker Tom Stewart was yellow-carded on 25 minutes as the home team conceded a succession of quick penalties in the shadow of their own posts.

The Ulster defence repelled a series of attacks on their own line before forcing an infringement, allowing Cooney to clear to touch.

Even playing with a numerical advantage, Munster lacked a cutting edge and Ulster comfortably saw the half out to lead 9-0 at the interval.

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Munster finally unlocked the Ulster defence on 44 minutes. Gavin Coombes made a line break and put a grubber kick for Keith Earls, however, Jacob Stockdale covered it but Cooney missed touch with his clearance.

Munster regrouped and, after a number of phases and with a penalty advantage, scrum half Paddy Patterson was able to snipe over from close range for a try, out half Jack Crowley struck the upright with the conversion.

Rob Baloucoune marked his return from injury with a try on 68 minutes.

Billy Burns found a good touch finder deep in Munster territory.

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After moving the ball in-field and with the Munster defence too narrow, Stuart McCloskey launched a 30-metre pace to the winger, Baloucoune didn’t have to break stride to gather and the Irish international had the pace to outsprint two defenders and touch down in the corner.

Nathan Doak pushed the conversion wide.

Healy’s penalty on 74 minutes put Munster in losing bonus point range.

Ulster put themselves under pressure with an aimless kick, Crowley was able to run it back deep into Ulster territory.

Munster threw everything at the Ulster but the home defence stood resolute, Mike Haley darted for the line, he was stopped, the ball was recycled and Healy sped through a gap to touch down to set up his winning conversion.

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