'The bookies are basically saying we have no chance'
The bookies may be suggesting this Saturday’s Guinness PRO14 final is already a foregone conclusion, but Ulster coach Dan McFarland is giving his team a puncher’s chance of causing an upset and winning the league for the first time since 2006.
Defending champions Leinster, who are chasing a hat-trick of titles, head into the PRO14 showpiece on the back of a 24-match unbeaten run that stretches all the way back to May 2019 when they were beaten in the Champions Cup final by Saracens.
They bounced back from that loss in Newcastle to win their two PRO14 play-off games last season to lift the title in Glasgow and have since gone through the 2019/20 league and cup with a 100 per cent record in their 22 outings.
Leinster are now heavily fancied to seal the league deal at Aviva Stadium before they welcome Saracens to the same ground the following weekend for a Champions Cup quarter-final.
However, Ulster also have a last-eight European game on the horizon in Toulouse and they hope to be going to France having bridged their 14-year trophy gap. “They look unbeatable, they are unbeatable,” said McFarland about Leinster.
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“Can they be beaten? What else am I going to say? I want to use the phrase we have a puncher’s chance, but what have the bookies got us at? Minus 10 at the moment? That is a two-score deficit in a final. They’re basically saying we have no chance.
“But yeah, they obviously can be beaten. Saracens beat them last year in a final. We have to go out and have a physical intensity that can at least match them. We have to have a game plan that firstly has a way of getting into them, but also that we can execute.
“We are going to need big plays. We’re going to need some of our big players to make big plays, and we are going to need to be precise. If we can get those things right we have a chance and if they don’t get those things right it will obviously help us. I’m not planning for them to make any mistakes,” said McFarland, who is nearing the end of his second season in charge at Ulster.
Amid speculation that Leinster skipper Johnny Sexton might be held in reserve with a view to having his fitness shipshape to face Saracens in Europe, McFarland isn’t hung up about Ulster’s near decade and a half trophy drought, a statistic which exists due to Leinster defeating them in respective 2012 and 2013 European and league finals.
“To say we haven’t won this for this long and we haven’t done this for that long, you can say that about a lot of teams. In our competition, it is most teams because Leinster keep keeping it for themselves. Ulster have been a very good team for a long period. They have been regulars in play-off games. There is only one team that can win the trophy, but we are down to the last two so we have a chance.”
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Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments