Ulster coach McFarland wary of the potent threat Scarlets pose

After two fine Champions Cup victories it’s back to bread and butter of Pro14 for Ulster

Daire Walsh

Following the high of back-to-back Champions Cup victories, Ulster head coach Dan McFarland has called on his players to refocus ahead of their imminent return to Guinness Pro14 action.

Courtesy of triumphs at the expense of Bath and Clermont, the northern province are flying high at the summit of their European pool. However, they currently trail Conference A leaders Leinster by all of nine points on the domestic front and welcome the ever-potent Scarlets to Kingspan Stadium, Belfast on Friday night.

“Obviously, the spotlight is on big European games and the Champions Cup in particular. We understand that Scarlets will come here full of vigour, playing a nice brand of rugby – having played Challenge Cup rugby for the last two weeks, which is not as much in the spotlight as the Champions Cup. For them it’s a mental freshen up and they’ll target this as a huge game,” McFarland explained at a Kingspan coaching masterclass held in the province’s home ground yesterday.

“They certainly haven’t changed their desire to want to play so they’re very threatening. They have an excellent variety of kicks, attacking kicks in their game. Double-sided attack. There are things that are different this year but in terms of their attacking play, the threat is still there.”

Because the game precedes consecutive European fixtures against English Premiership outfit Harlequins, it was anticipated that McFarland might dip into his reserve options for Friday’s clash. Scarlets may well be forced to field an experimental line-up themselves – as a consequence of Wales’ encounter with the Barbarians at the Principality Stadium, Cardiff on Saturday.

Nevertheless, the former loosehead prop acknowledged he is unlikely to make wholesale changes to his in-form side.

“We don’t have to rotate, we might change a few players around but this is a really important game for us. You can just see the way the table sits at the moment, there is no room for manoeuvre. This is not a game where, or an opposition where, you would feel safe changing everybody out. That’s not going to be happening,” McFarland added.

Having previously worked alongside him during his final season as assistant coach at Connacht, McFarland was reunited with John Cooney upon taking the Ulster reins in the summer of 2018.

He always believed the Dubliner had the ability to become a top-class scrumhalf, but feels the move to Belfast has helped to bring the best out of him.

“John always had the equipment, the skill-set was always there. He’s obviously improved. He’s improved his passing, his kicking and decision making. That has been a gradual process and I don’t think there is any one thing that has come out of his game.

“I wonder whether for him it was just the opportunity to come and show what he could do and do really well at an audience that appreciated that. He has certainly come out of himself and he’s able to produce those big moments,” McFarland said.