McFarland: Ulster wary of Scarlets threat
Daire Walsh
Following the elation of back-to-back Champions Cup victories, Ulster head coach Dan McFarland has called on his players to re-focus ahead of their return to the Guinness PRO14.
The northern province are flying high at the summit of their European pool after triumphs over Bath and Clermont. However, they currently trail Conference A leaders Leinster by all of nine points on the domestic front and welcome the ever-threatening Scarlets to Kingspan Stadium on Friday night.
Speaking at a Kingspan coaching masterclass at the ground yesterday, McFarland said: “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.
“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.”