THE FACT THAT Dan McFarland was able to quickly recall the only team to do the regular season double over Leinster since Ulster last did it in 2013 perhaps tells you how important winning last night’s game was for the province.
“That was Dragons in 14/15. That really says how difficult it is to do that task,” said the head coach, not missing a beat.
Now you can add Ulster 2021/22 to that list. With an 18-13 win at Kingspan Stadium on Saturday night, coupled with November’s 20-10 victory at the RDS Arena, McFarland’s men doubled up on their rivals for the first time in nine years and for only the second time since the turn of the century.
They did it the hard way, weathering a storm figuratively and literally as they held off relentless waves of Leinster pressure in the second half when defending a five-point lead while also coping with sideways rain and gale-force winds. But they did just enough.
Their reward is that the gap at the top of the United Rugby Championship standings is now down to just one point but arguably the bigger reward is psychological. For years Leinster seem to have had a mental hold over Ulster – this team doesn’t seem to have that block.
“Obviously the big one was winning away in Dublin and that was the game we played really well in,” continued McFarland. “We didn’t play very well tonight but we ground out the win and I think the guys should take a lot of confidence from that and be proud of that achievement.”
As important as this win was, chances are McFarland won’t be rushing home to make sure he had it recorded on his Sky Plus. The conditions turned it into a game laden with mistakes and as many kicks as there were passes – to coin an old rugby cliche, it was one for the purists.
It’s the second such game Ulster have played in the last month, their trip to Dragons last month played in similar conditions and they came out on top of that one, too. While neither game was particularly easy on the eye, they managed to get the job done on both occasions.
This time they even managed a couple of nice scores, too, the forwards showing particular grit to allow Sam Carter over for the first and then Ireland duo Mike Lowry and Robert Baloucoune combining for the former to strike for their second, with the defence then doing the required backs to the wall effort in the second half to secure the four points.
“In the first half we lacked a bit of energy. We didn’t do well in the aerial game, we weren’t winning back any of our kicks and they were putting a lot of balls on top of us. They kicked the leather out of the ball and it was a good tactic for them because they were winning the ball back,” said McFarland by way of critique.
“It was a little bit disappointing that we didn’t have the energy we wanted but I thought Leinster were excellent. They came with a team missing a lot of players, and I know we were missing a lot of players as well, but they came and worked hard and played a really good game.
“It certainly wasn’t pretty and it certainly wasn’t a game we played particularly well in. But to stay in the game and to score two really nice tries, and then to put in the defensive effort in the second half there when other areas of our game which usually function well didn’t function was a testament to the amount of work the lads put in. They ground out the victory.”
There was also an extended cameo for former Ireland Under-20s hooker Tom Stewart, who has fashioned a role for himself within the squad in recent weeks after a couple of lengthy spells on the sidelines and appears to be growing in confidence with each appearance.
The 21-year-old scored his first senior try against Cardiff last week and, after replacing the injured John Andrew late in the first-half on Saturday night, he came up with another prominent contribution by winning a vital turnover in the dying stages to deny another Leinster attack and close out the victory.
“It’s great for the young fella, he had such a tough time dealing with repeated injuries that were just really annoying injuries, and it seemed to go on forever,” admitted McFarland.
“He’s a really good player. He’s got a lot to learn, obviously, but he’s going to develop. He’s very competitive, very focused. He’s got a little bit of x-factor.
“We were disappointed for John having to go off because it was off the back of his carry off the maul that we got the go-forward to get the first try, and John’s been doing well for us. But needs must and Tom came on and did a great job.”
