Dan McFarland
POSITION: Head Coach
Munster reflections
“We didn’t play very well in certain aspects. The game was 43 mins long of ball in play time, which Munster had 27 mins of possession and we had 16 mins, so that was effectively 63% territory they had which is very unusual for us as we normally would lead controlling possession and territory."
"We turned over 13 times in 16 mins, Munster turned it over 4 times in 27 mins, which is very impressive. The result of that is that we had to make 340 tackles, which is as many as I have ever seen. We tackled at a good rate but it’s a lot of tackles, and that is energy-sapping but also demoralising on the pitch.”
"The turnovers in the first half in particular took the momentum out of our game. In the second half, we had three chances to maul them, and they did a brilliant of job of stealing our line outs.”
"We were authors of our own downfall in the first half and the way we didn’t take our opportunities. We are a good side at turnovers, normally having low turnover rates, so it was pretty unusual and it allowed Munster to be in a position where they could take it from us."
Team reaction
"Everybody takes responsibility in our group, sometimes guys don’t play well, sometimes we don’t coach well, sometimes we don’t physio well, but most of the time we do a really good job.”
“You come in and are really disappointed but there’s always an attitude of action and we need to focus on the rugby. We’ve been against good opposition and been punished. The mood is one of getting better."
Mood and momentum
"We understand the difficult spell we have been in, but we also understand we are a quality team and have been for three or four years. We are working hard at it."
"Bad momentum can snowball. That second half against Leinster felt like a punch in the face. You can’t let it hit you, and it’s important to keep believing in what you do. We have had ups and downs, but if you believe in what you do, you weather through those."
Benetton challenge
“We have really good players who are not playing as well as they want and some aspects of the system which may not be working as well as we want them to, but we have to trust in those. We’ll keep working and there will be some changes this weekend. The game in Treviso is very important to us and we need to get back to playing well again.”
Stuart McCloskey
POSTION: Centre
On Munster
“It wasn't ideal. We made over 300 tackles in the game which didn’t help us in terms of finishing strong, and we made some individual mistakes in the last ten minutes that led to them scoring, but they took their try well. They got down there, held the ball for twenty odd phases, and we need to work on the last ten minutes of both our last games."
Frustration
“As a team, forwards and backs struggled with the ball. We were average with the ball across the board. It’s something to work on as the season progresses. We hope to get more clinical and know where we can be, and we have to get back there.
On the mood of the team
“I would say confidence isn’t as high as it has been. At the start of the year, we were going well. You’re going to have dips in form and some of the results took the wind out of our sails.
"However, our confidence is good going forward for a team that’s played far below its level in the past few weeks. We are third in the league, have a game in hand, and still have a chance to qualify for the next round of Europe. If we are able to turn it around, we are in a good position to get a home semi-final in the league and a Round of 16 game in Europe."
Training
"Training has been good, but sometimes you can be in a rut that can be hard to get out of. We brushed it off at Connacht and at Munster and had 75 minutes of good defence, just some of the attack stuff could be worked on."
This weekend
“We need to see a whole lot of the ball better, get our own stuff right, not worry too much about them, worry about holding the ball, going through phases and putting them under pressure. They are a good team and a result over there would be good for us and hopefully push us higher up the table."
Where to watch:
Watch Benetton v Ulster, BKT United Rugby Championship Round 12, Saturday 7 January (KO 1pm), live on Viaplay and URC.tv.