COACH PEEL IS POOL OF CONFIDENCE

Ulster attack boss Dwayne believes his province have big chance of last eight

ULSTER attack coach Dwayne Peel believes the province has “everything to play for” heading into the final double-header of the Champions Cup.

Dan Mcfarland’s men, who lie second in their group, have given themselves a shot at the knockout stages with two qualifiers to play.

Racing 92, setting a heady pace at the summit, roll into Belfast before the pool campaign concludes with a trip to Leicester next week.

The stakes couldn’t be higher as Ulster, who hope to have Ireland winger Jacob Stockdale back from a hamstring injury, bid to make the knockout stages for the first time since 2014.

“We’ve put ourselves in a good position,” said Peel

(above). “You want to be coming into the last two games with everything to play for and we’ve put ourselves in that situation.

“It will be fantastic for everyone involved if we manage to get through and it’s an opportunity we want to take. The boys will really have a crack at it.”

While Ulster’s recent home form is good – they have won 15 of their last 17 at the Kingspan Stadium – Racing 92 present a formidable barrier to the quarter-finals.

The French giants, who are third favourites behind Saracens and Leinster to win the competition, meted out a 44-12 defeat to Mcfarland’s men at La Defence Arena in October. “I thought the scoreline in October didn’t reflect the game,” said Peel. “But they are playing really well and the reality is they have a good squad of players.

“It’s an exciting challenge for us and it’s a big European match so that in itself carries a lot of weight. We’ve got to go out and really get stuck into them.”

While the three best runnersup from the five pools progress to the last eight, Peel insists it is premature to look at possible permutations.

“A lot of things can happen,” he said. “We will look after ourselves. We’re just looking to get a win and see where we are at the end of this week.”

Ulster are without Craig Gilroy (hamstring) and, with Henry Speight returned home, young winger Rob Baloucoune could come into consideration.