'We handed it to them on a plate' - McFarland says Ulster punished for missed chances

Ulster coach Dan McFarland says his side handed the Stormers victory "on a plate" in the United Rugby Championship semi-final by wasting third-quarter chances.

The Irish province, seeking a first trophy since 2006, led 15-10 at half-time in Cape Town but after failing to increase their lead were stunned in the closing seconds of the contest as the 14-man South African side levelled through a Warrick Gelant try before Manie Libbok's match-winning conversion as the hosts ran out 17-15 victors.

"It's brutal because we didn't put our best version of ourselves on the pitch today," said the Ulster coach.

"Having played so well against Munster last time to come and play like we did in the third quarter of that game and basically hand it to them on a plate was very disappointing.

"In that third quarter, that was our opportunity. We had field position and opportunities to score and we either knocked the ball on or turned it over with some poor kicking or turned it over at the maul.

"You can't do that at this level. We needed to score then and that would have been the match gone and we didn't."