‘STOP MENTIONING THE streak,” smiles Dan McFarland. He’s not joking.
A core part of his work with the northern province has been to convince his players that every bite, snap and snarl is absolutely vital. So idle chat about 19 home wins on the trot might give the impression that winning is becoming routine for Ulster.
In Europe they have certainly made a habit of digging out results and so they deservedly sit top of Champions Cup Pool 3 approaching the final two rounds of fixtures. But standing between them and a fifth straight win in Europe and a guaranteed quarter-final berth is the team who have erected the grandest edifice of all the rugby fortresses.
“We go to probably the most famous home-streaker of all time next week in Clermont,” says McFarland, noting the 77-match run at Stade Michelin that ended with a Top14 Barrages loss to Castres in 2014.
While the Massif Central club are shy of the quality they possessed when challenging for titles on dual fronts, they continue to show a brilliant ability to overawe opponents on their own patch with 52 and 53-point hauls in their two home pool outings this season.
“The biggest thing when you go to a side like that,” said McFarland, “it’s got to be your collective that is strong. You have to work well as a team. Because the moment any kind of fracture lines appear in that collective, they will expose them.
“They can do it from 80 metres out, 60 metres out, and Clermont score in bursts – you’ll see three tries in 10 minutes and that’s it. Boom. Game over.
“So your collective has to be strong and it has to be consistently strong. There isn’t much new about that for us, it’s something that we’re consistently talking about, but it’s particularly the case when you play one of those star-studded French teams.”
Ulster’s brightest star, John Cooney, is their main injury doubt after Friday’s win over Munster after he departed the scene following a HIA.
Only a win will ensure the northern province keep their destiny in their own hands in this competition, but this pool also looks set to produce a leading runner-up. Every point is gold-dust when it comes to the shake-up for quarter-final places and every element of Ulster’s form at the minute merits a spot in the top eight.
“Munster are a quality team, (on) both sides of the ball they really tested us today.
“We were going to have to be pretty astute in the way we attacked it and sharp in what we were doing. And there was going to have to be an improvement in what we were doing in previous weeks.
“Fair play, Dwayne (Peel, backs coach) put a really good plan together. Our first try came off exactly what he’d shown the lads and explained what we needed to do, and they executed it perfectly.
“A couple of the set-plays worked really well and then the players on the pitch had to do the job as well.”
“We’re not getting ahead of ourselves. We are by no means the finished article. We have to go to one of the most dangerous teams in Europe next week and, in terms of an attacking threat, arguably the most dangerous team given the individuals they have. It will be a huge test.”
