Post-Match Reaction: Dan McFarland

The battle for the Guinness PRO14 Conference B playoff places looks set to go right down to the wire, as Ulster were unable to improve their standing on Friday night in Scotstoun. Conference A leaders Glasgow recorded a bonus point win, and Ulster Head Coach Dan McFarland acknowledged the Scots were a pitch ahead of his side on the night: “Glasgow are a very strong side and they’re going to be in that Championship mix at the end of the season”, said McFarland. “That’s somewhere we aspire to be. At this stage, we’re going to have to improve.” The Ulster men opened the scoring in the 7th minute with a Rob Herring converted try, but were unable to add to their tally for the remainder of the game as Glasgow ran in three tries in the first half and one shortly after the restart to seal the win. “We started well, played some good rugby and allowed them to kick a long way up the field and score a few tries off the back of that. We needed to hold on to the ball and we didn’t.” After a colossal effort in last weekend’s Champions Cup quarter-final versus Leinster, McFarland and his coaching team were left frustrated in Glasgow, and will be looking for a positive response for the remaining fixtures. “We need to finish off and be more accurate in attack. We weren’t at the level we were last week, and that’s understandable to an extent. But we’re now in a position where we have to be or we’re not going to qualify.” The result leaves Ulster still in second place in Conference B on 54 points, with leaders Leinster hosting Benetton (50 points), and Scarlets (45) hosting Edinburgh (47) on Saturday evening. Next up for Ulster is another Scottish mission away to Edinburgh next Friday 12th April in the penultimate regular season game. “That’s a huge game, as Edinburgh are obviously in our conference. We’re pretty banged up and bruised but we have to regroup, review and move forward.”