Mounting injuries causing Ulster coach Dan McFarland issues

By Jim Stokes

Ulster coach Dan McFarland hasn’t his troubles to seek in the run-up to Saturday evening’s PRO14 clash with Munster at Thomond Park.

The medical room at the Kingspan Stadium is a tad overcrowded with no fewer than 17 players unavailable for the trip to Limerick. With Connacht the following week, and the Heineken Cup opener against Leicester on 13 October, McFarland cannot even depend on some of the returning international players as they are also giving the medical backroom staff plenty of overtime.

“To be honest, at the moment in terms of our backline, there’s that many injuries, it’s a difficult. How to do manage it? You just integrate the players when and as you can,” said McFarland who only has Iain Henderson available from his usual international quota to face Munster.

Despite that, McFarland is happy the way his so-far unbeaten team has performed this season in the PRO14, particularly how the players have taken to his coaching methods and idealisms.

“We’re really pleased with what we’ve done. To win all games is a very important trait. It was one of the things that I wanted to see from the squad when I arrived. Competitiveness, and the players’ ability to compete non-stop for 80 minutes no matter what the circumstances. That’s something that has personified the great Ulster teams of the past. It’s something that I really believe in, as it’s in my nature,” said McFarland, who was certainly not wanting to lower expectations on either front this season.

You’ve got to keep you’re standards high, you’ve got to be consistent. We want to be competitive on every front. It would be a dis-service to the players, fans and to any competition if we were not focused. The idea that we may not do too well in the Champions Cup, so we won’t be trying very hard, is plainly ludicrous.

“The fact that we are in an extremely tough pool is not something we choose. But we would not have it any other way,” said McFarland whose Ulster side also face Racing 92 and Scarlets in Pool 4.

One of his injured internationals, Jordi Murphy, was in no doubt that inter-provincial are still a big date on the local calendar, even though times have changed.

“I don’t think so,” said Murphy, who picked up an ankle knock in the win against Edinburgh three weeks ago in his first run-out since his move from Leinster. “I don’t think playing Leinster this Christmas is going to be any less spicy.”