Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
TIGER FEAT
Mcfarland warns Ulster it will take huge display in Leicester
DAN MCFARLAND has warned Ulster they’ll have to be “top notch” to tame the Tigers at Welford Road and gatecrash the knockout stages of the Champions Cup.
A win in Saturday’s final pool game guarantees the province a ticket to the quarter-final stages of the competition for the first time since 2014.
And while Mcfarland is excited by the prospect of ending a frustrating five year wait in his first season at the helm, he knows Leicester will be no pushovers in their own backyard.
“There are a lot of guys in our squad who won’t have played in the quarter-final of the Champions Cup so that is exciting,” he said.
“Getting into the last eight is a big incentive, but if we are not top notch we won’t get it, because we are playing a really good team.
“They have the best scrum in the Premiership and they have backs who can cut you to pieces so we will have to be on top of our game.
“Leicester are a huge club with a proud history and they’ll definitely be wanting to make sure we don’t qualify.”
While Racing 92, who lie three points clear at the summit, are unlikely to slip up at home to Scarlets, Ulster know a win of any description ring-fences one of the best runnersup spots.
The three best second-placed clubs from the five qualifying pools progress, with Glasgow (19 points), Ulster (18) and Toulouse (17) currently leading the way.
“Qualification is in our hands and that’s how we want it,” said Mcfarland (inset). “There are plenty of clubs in Europe who don’t have that opportunity.
“We understand the task ahead of us. We wanted to be in a situation where we control our own destiny.”
Mcfarland, who is awaiting fitness assessments on out half Billy Burns (calf) and scrum half John Cooney (back), has the benefit of having won at Welford Road before. He was part of Glasgow’s coaching ticket when the Scottish club secured a thumping 43-0 win over the Tigers to secure a quarter-final berth in 2017.
“We were on fire. It was one of the best experiences I’ve been involved in,” he said.
“It took a lot of preparation, there was a tremendous hunger because Glasgow had never played in the quarter-finals.”
While Leicester are last and out of contention, Mcfarland added: “We prepare for them to come as good as they possibly can be.”
We prepare for them to come as good as they possibly can be..