Dan McFarland left frustrated despite Ulster win

Ulster’s hopes of making the Pro14 final for a second consecutive season are dangling by the thinnest of threads after the weekend’s action.

Ulster picked up a 21-7 victory over the Ospreys at Kingspan Stadium to make it 12 wins out of 13, but only scored three tries and missed out on a valuable bonus point for a second successive week.

Leinster scored six tries against 14-man Glasgow in a 40-21 win at the RDS last night, having the bonus point wrapped up by the interval.

It means even if Ulster were to beat the defending champions with a bonus point and deny Leinster anything in Belfast, Leinster would be a point ahead going into the final two games.

Coach Dan McFarland was frustrated that Ulster couldn’t get the fourth try against the Ospreys and gain the crucial bonus point.

“It means that it’s not in our hands, up until not getting that point it was in our hands and now it’s not,” said McFarland

“It doesn’t matter what we do against Leinster next week, if they get bonus-points in every other game they’ll finish top of the conference and that’s it.

“That’s disappointing. I’m proud of the fact that we’re in a position close to the end of the season up there competing with Leinster because nobody else is, but it’s disappointing.”

“Our focus now turns to a massive match against the best team in our league next week.”

Ulster’s only defeat in the league this season came at the RDS in January and McFarland thinks his side or making strides in ending the three-in-a-row champions dominance in the Pro14.

“I think we’ve closed that gap, over a period of time we’ve become much more competitive, not just with them but compared to the other teams,” he said.

“In terms of the performances that we’re able to put out, but also in the way that we’re able to win when we’re not playing well.

“It’s obviously a pretty good marker of a strong squad, we’ve come a long way but in the last couple of weeks we’ve only fired in short bursts in games but when we’ve had we’ve looked good.

“Defensively we’ve held the opposition to one try in each game, I’m pretty pleased in what we’re capable of, we just need to be more consistent within games.”

The Ospreys game marked the welcome return of wingers Jacob Stockdale and Robert Baloucoune.

It was Stockdale’s first taste of action since the Munster match on January 2 while it was Baloucoune’s seasonal debut after he recovered from a hamstring injury.

“It was great to get Jacob back on the field and I thought he did a pretty good job,” said McFarland.

“He had a brilliant take of a high ball which is a big part of his game, he looked strong in his running and that was really pleasing.

“To get Rob back as well after a much longer lay-off was really exciting, he showed in areas what he can do.

“He looked strong, he looked powerful, he was bumping players off which was exciting.

“It’s always good to get athletes like that back on the pitch.”

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