It’s been a tough Champions Cup campaign for Ulster, what with their home game against La Rochelle being contentiously shifted from the Kingspan Stadium to a neutral/away Aviva Stadium before they were handed the short straw by having to return there to meet their bête noire in the Round of 16.
Conditions weren’t quite as sodden here on Saturday evening as was the case when beaten 7-3 in the last play when travelling to La Rochelle in the return fixture last January. That schedule at least afforded them insights into last season’s champions and runners-up, so, as an aside, Dan McFarland was asked what he’d do if given a free bet for charity were Leinster and La Rochelle to meet again in next May’s final at the Aviva Stadium.
“Ooh, it’s got to be Leinster, hasn’t it?” said the Ulster head coach after pausing for thought. “They’ve just won the Grand Slam. Sorry, 14 of them have just literally won the Grand Slam. I think so. I think they’re a team that learns as well.
But La Rochelle are a good team too. Jeez, I don’t know. I don’t know. I think Leinster. I’m going to put my money on Leinster. Well, sorry, I’m not allowed to, but if I was, I would put money on Leinster.”
Ulster fought the good fight and McFarland could be understandably and justifiably proud of the effort his side put into this tie. This was the third time Leinster have ended Ulster’s Champions Cup hopes and their third win over McFarland’s side this season as payback for last season’s URC double.
“It’s challenging,” admitted McFarland after an 11th loss against Leinster in 14 matches under his watch. “It is what it is, isn’t it? I can’t change the demographics. They’ve just got way more rugby players, way more earning potential in terms of the money. Nothing changes that. It would be like taking any other job and saying ‘Oh God, I’m always demoralised because so-and-so has got more money.
“You just get on with the job, don’t you? You believe in what you’re doing and you look to get the best out of yourself. I genuinely believe that when we play well we can cause Leinster trouble so that we can beat them, and that’s the way we’ll go about our business.”
That was certainly true when they rattled Leinster in losing that epic quarter-final 21-18 four seasons ago. While Leinster have a stronger team thanks to their conveyor belt of talent, especially up front, McFarland believes Ulster have improved too.
“I know that’s the easy answer but I think both [have made progress]. Leinster’s players play at a very high level now, obviously we know that from the last two months, and we’ve got a lot of young guys who have come through from that team back in 2019 who are playing at a high level now. Definitely.
“I think back then, we produced a huge game on that day but ultimately we lost to Glasgow in a play-off game in the URC and we were well beaten in that game. We weren’t good enough at that time whereas when you look at the games now we go into those feeling as if we’re very competitive.
“We went to the Stormers last year, who won the competition, in the semi-final and lost in the 85th minute. And earlier in the season we lost because the TMO didn’t give us a try that should have been a try at the final whistle to win the game.
“So, we’re right up there with the teams that are fighting and winning silverware, so as a team we should have confidence that we’re able to do that. But we have to be at our best to do it.”
