Dan McFarland flags up 'little odd' Champions Cup scenario

​Dan McFarland has questioned the make-up of the Investec Champions Cup pools as Ulster’s hopes of making the knockout stages for a fifth time in six years hang by a thread after Saturday’s 48-24 home defeat by Toulouse.
By Ciaran Donaghy
Published 15th Jan 2024, 11:00 GMT
Ulster's Tom Stewart scores a try in the Investec Champions Cup loss to Toulouse at the Kingspan Stadium. (Photo by Liam McBurney/PA Wire)Ulster's Tom Stewart scores a try in the Investec Champions Cup loss to Toulouse at the Kingspan Stadium. (Photo by Liam McBurney/PA Wire)
Ulster's Tom Stewart scores a try in the Investec Champions Cup loss to Toulouse at the Kingspan Stadium. (Photo by Liam McBurney/PA Wire)

Ulster must now go to Premiership leaders Harlequins and get a victory while Racing 92, who are two points behind McFarland’s side in a scrap to clinch the last qualifying spot in Pool 2, face whipping boys Cardiff.

Under the new format this season, teams from the same domestic competition can’t face each other in the pool stages. Cardiff have lost all three games, conceding 145 points - with Toulouse, Harlequins and Bath all picking up bonus point wins against the Welsh region.

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“I don’t want to be disrespectful to Cardiff, but the bottom line is that they are at the bottom of our pool and haven’t won a game and we don’t get to play them...so for everybody else it has more or less been a guaranteed five points and that does seem a little odd, but it is what it is,” said McFarland. “It’s the same in the URC isn’t it?

"We don’t get to play a chunk of the teams in the other pools twice, instead we play Leinster, Munster and Connacht, who are obviously top-quality teams.

“But these competitions, they are what they are and you might miss out on the scheduling in terms of the difficulty of schedule but you also get the excitement to play some good teams and we go week to week and play what’s in front of us.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way than playing Toulouse...what a great test, what a great opportunity and a great night for the fans. Yeah, we lost but these are tremendous challenges. We love this competition...it’s tough, it’s not the same as it was when it was the group of four and we had six games.

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“That was a much better competition back then, but we still love that competition and we’re desperate to play in the round of 16.”

Harlequins have already qualified for the knockout stages but still have a mathematical chance of clinching a home tie in the last 16. Ulster have won on their last three visits to the Stoop.

“Harlequins are probably in a better place this time than they were the last time,” said McFarland. “They’ve got some super individuals...so that is going to be a very interesting prospect. But, as I say, the competition is about playing exciting teams and we played one tonight and we’ve got another one now.”

Ulster were undone by Antoine Dupont’s masterclass on Saturday night as the French scrum half scored two of Toulouse’s seven tries. Winger Matthis Lebel got the game’s opening try, Thomas Ramos converted then swapped penalties with John Cooney.

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Peato Mauvaka went over for the visitors for an unconverted try, the hooker turned provider to assist in Dupont’s first score with Ramos converting. Tom Stewart’s converted try narrowed Toulouse’s half-time advantage to 22-10.

Dupont and Muvaka both went over after the break and No8 Alexandre Roumat finished off a sweeping move. Will Addison and Nick Timoney crossed for Ulster before Toulouse lock Emmanuel Meafou went over with the last play.

Related topics:UlsterPremiershipCardiff