Rory Best and Darren Cave farewell factor just a part of Ulster wanting to finish on a high: Dan McFarland

The farewell for stalwarts Rory Best and Darren Cave continues, as Ulster move on to Scotstoun on Friday night.
Guinness PRO14 Quarter-Final, Kingspan Stadium, Belfast 4/5/2019
Ulster vs Connacht
Ulster's Darren Cave with Rory Best after the game
Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Tommy DicksonGuinness PRO14 Quarter-Final, Kingspan Stadium, Belfast 4/5/2019
Ulster vs Connacht
Ulster's Darren Cave with Rory Best after the game
Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Tommy Dickson
Guinness PRO14 Quarter-Final, Kingspan Stadium, Belfast 4/5/2019 Ulster vs Connacht Ulster's Darren Cave with Rory Best after the game Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Tommy Dickson

The Irish Province face Glasgow Warriors in the semi-finals of the Guinness PRO14 Final series - another step closer to reaching that dream of achieving silverware for the first time in 13 years.

Cave will hang up the boots when Ulster’s season ends - potentially this weekend - while Best retires from Ulster but will still be involved with the professional game until Ireland’s participation in the Rugby World Cup this autumn in Japan ends.

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In terms of giving the departing players a perfect farewell and the squad being conscious of wanting to do that, McFarland said: “I think it’s more to do with the fact that we want to finish the season off well and an acknowledgement within that they’re a part to that.

“That’s just one thread that is a great thread. You can see how determined those two guys are that they want to finish out well but then so does everybody, so do I.

“We all want to finish out well and the fact that thread runs through it just makes it a good part of it,” he said.

If Cave - who has again been named on the replacements - was to play in this weekend’s game he would equal Andrew Trimble’s all-time Ulster appearance record (229) - reaching a final and playing in it would mean he would retire as the most capped player of all time.