Ulster Head Coach, Dan McFarland, said that he was really pleased with the efforts of his much-changed team that took the fight to Connacht in Galway, and came close to taking home a win.
His analysis
"Obviously we were written off before the match, the bookies changed their spread from 1 point to 8 points in ten minutes, they were pretty close but we had twenty guys unavailable. This was two six day turnarounds in a row, so it was decided that guys would be brought in to patch things up, get their opportunities that they deserved after doing well over the pre season.
It was important for us to out in a physical performance, in the first two quarters, I thought we were excellent, defensively we were excellent. I'm gutted in the end because we had opportunities to win ourselves but also we were penalised for a scrum penalty, before their try that definitely should have gone to us. That decision goes our way and we are kicking into their 22. It could have been a different result. They also played really well in the third quarter, so it is what it is."
Pride in the team
"Coming into this game I watched Connacht and thought they were playing some of the best rugby in the league at the moment, they had as strong as team as they could put out minus the Ireland guys. We knew it was a big test, we’ve won here in previous years, we proved it was possible and we showed it but just couldn’t get it over the line this time."
On positives
"It’s hard to pick individuals out, Jake Flannery has been doing really well over the pre-season and it’s a hard place to come as you stand opposite Jack Carty, who is the master of the west wind. It’s always going to be a tough ask for Jake.
We also had three academy debutants tonight, Joe Hopes, our academy lock came on, Joe will be a very good player. Ben Carson came on for his debut. Poor Reuben Crothers came in after doing really well over pre-season, as his first year in the professional set-up, and he earned his start. Unfortunately he came off really early, so the group are gutted for him but he will have his day."
Ulster's fly-half, Jake Flannery, scored his second try of the season in the match to send Ulster into the lead and showed great accuracy from the tee throughout the night. He told reporters about his disappointment of not closing out the win.
"We’re really disappointed, there were moments we could have won, it can always be a tight game at the Sportsground, Connacht came back really well and got the win."
On the team's spirit
"What I love about Ulster, is we have such a tight-knit group, you can feel it when you are out there, everyone is willing to put it in for each other, you are willing to go the extra lengths because the guy beside you, you really care about. That’s got to stand for us in the long term."
On Connacht
"I felt they had good phases, their attack is going so well at the moment, they have tight shape and that’s hard to defend. We did really well at times but its hard to stop in full flow, we probably got a bit sloppy with some pens and gave them a way back in at times. They got a soft try off a maul, off my inside shoulder so I was disappointed with that. They were always going to come back at us. I hope I can learn from it."
On playing against Munster at Kingspan Stadium
"Right now, it’s disappointment and frustration. We are hungry and desperate to beat Munster, we will regroup, fix things and go again on Friday at Kingspan Stadium. Our last Christmas we played against them and they beat us so that’s at the forefront of our minds."