Speaking after the game, Ulster Head Coach, Dan McFarland was satisfied with his team’s display against Benetton Rugby in the opening round of the 2020/21 season on Friday evening.
“We had a young, inexperienced back line playing against a real quality team with some big men, but we did a really good job,” said McFarland. “There was a little bit of naivety at times but that’s the way it was going to go. We saw some real glimpses of talent on show from our prospects.
“Up front, we had a really experienced pack out on the pitch. Roddy [Grant, Forwards Coach] asked them to take it to Benetton in the maul and lay down a proper challenge. We trained well this week and we can all agree it was a dominant mauling performance. That was going to help out that young back line against what I believe is a really good Benetton side. I was very happy with the way the lads stuck at it.”
Going into the break at 21-all, the team didn’t panic and the game plan for the second half was simply to finish how they started, he said.
“We played some really good stuff and there were aspects of our game that were well on top in the first half. The coaches, players and I felt confident that we were able to carry on imposing in those areas of our game, and I include a lot of our defence in that. In the second half, we did well.
“We made a couple of mistakes in the first half, giving away penalties – one of which led to a yellow card – and they scored two tries during that period. We brought a little pressure onto ourselves with that, but the way we were playing, I was confident that we’d go well in the second half.”
McFarland was full of praise for his team – in particular, the young back line.
“Benetton have some real talent in the backs; all of their back three are really dangerous but our defence is good and we have some talented runners in our back line with Stewart and James in the centre. Both wingers on display on Friday – Rob Lyttle and Craig Gilroy - have electric feet, not to mention Jacob Stockdale at full-back.
“Stewart made some really good decisions on the ball. James has been developing over the last while and has a few more games under his belt. 13 is a really difficult place to defend but I thought the two of them did a good job against a really good team, and Stewart got a try as well.”
Among the forward replacements, Academy back row, David McCann made his Ulster debut, as well as Gareth Milasinovich, making his return from a knee injury sustained shortly after joining the club last summer.
“It was great to see David McCann get his first cap,” McFarland said. “He made a really good contribution when he came on. The bench included a number of guys who were involved in the ‘A’ game the previous week in Dublin against tough opposition, they put in a great showing that night and deserved their opportunity to play. They did a good job to a man. Poor Louis [Ludik] had to come on at number eight / flanker and won a scrum penalty for us!
“Gareth Milasinovich has been desperate to play. He got game time in the ‘A’ team the previous week and got his first cap against Benetton. He’s a big man and when he gets on the hoof, he’s difficult to stop. If you run into him, he’s going to empty you. He isn’t the finished article but he will hopefully get a chance for more minutes going forward.”
Ulster Rugby welcomed 600 supporters in a trial to safely re-introduce spectators at Kingspan Stadium, which McFarland felt helped energize the team.
“The noise from the singing of ‘Stand Up For The Ulster Men’ at the beginning of the game was invigorating; it was fantastic. That noise came from just 600 people spread out all over the stadium but after five away games, it was brilliant to be back at our home and have a small section of our fans who I think represented the whole supporter base out there really well. It was a pleasure to be there on Friday night.”
Going into the break at 21-all, the team didn’t panic and the game plan for the second half was simply to finish how they started, he said.
“We played some really good stuff and there were aspects of our game that were well on top in the first half. The coaches, players and I felt confident that we were able to carry on imposing in those areas of our game, and I include a lot of our defence in that. In the second half, we did well.
“We made a couple of mistakes in the first half, giving away penalties – one of which led to a yellow card – and they scored two tries during that period. We brought a little pressure onto ourselves with that, but the way we were playing, I was confident that we’d go well in the second half.”
McFarland was full of praise for his team – in particular, the young back line.
“Benetton have some real talent in the backs; all of their back three are really dangerous but our defence is good and we have some talented runners in our back line with Stewart and James in the centre. Both wingers on display on Friday – Rob Lyttle and Craig Gilroy - have electric feet, not to mention Jacob Stockdale at full-back.
“Stewart made some really good decisions on the ball. James has been developing over the last while and has a few more games under his belt. 13 is a really difficult place to defend but I thought the two of them did a good job against a really good team, and Stewart got a try as well.”
Among the forward replacements, Academy back row, David McCann made his Ulster debut, as well as Gareth Milasinovich, making his return from a knee injury sustained shortly after joining the club last summer.
“It was great to see David McCann get his first cap,” McFarland said. “He made a really good contribution when he came on. The bench included a number of guys who were involved in the ‘A’ game the previous week in Dublin against tough opposition, they put in a great showing that night and deserved their opportunity to play. They did a good job to a man. Poor Louis [Ludik] had to come on at number eight / flanker and won a scrum penalty for us!
“Gareth Milasinovich has been desperate to play. He got game time in the ‘A’ team the previous week and got his first cap against Benetton. He’s a big man and when he gets on the hoof, he’s difficult to stop. If you run into him, he’s going to empty you. He isn’t the finished article but he will hopefully get a chance for more minutes going forward.”
Ulster Rugby welcomed 600 supporters in a trial to safely re-introduce spectators at Kingspan Stadium, which McFarland felt helped energize the team.
“The noise from the singing of ‘Stand Up For The Ulster Men’ at the beginning of the game was invigorating; it was fantastic. That noise came from just 600 people spread out all over the stadium but after five away games, it was brilliant to be back at our home and have a small section of our fans who I think represented the whole supporter base out there really well. It was a pleasure to be there on Friday night.”