Dan McFarland: Ulster coach believes his team can hit ground running

Dan McFarland says Ulster have the squad strength and depth to compete on two fronts over the coming weeks

Ulster coach Dan McFarland believes his team will be able to click into gear for a potential run of five big straight games starting from Sunday.

McFarland's side play their first match in six months in the Pro14 derby against Connacht at the Aviva Stadium.

Ulster's Leinster game on 29 August could be followed by a Pro14 semi-final and final before their Champions Cup tie away to Toulouse on 20 September.

"We've got fresh bodies and hungry bodies here," said McFarland.

The Ulster coach was insistent about that even though talented wing Robert Baloucoune and Sean Reidy have joined Ireland internationals Iain Henderson and Will Addison on an injury list which also includes other squad members Andy Warwick and Angus Curtis.

First things first, victory in Dublin in Sunday will guarantee Ulster's spot in the Pro14 semi-finals which take place on the first weekend in September.

Perfection 'unlikely' admits McFarland

"If we get to a position where we're playing five games in a row, I tell you we'll not have any issues going into the quarter-final and we're not going to have any issues going into a semi-final," added the Ulster coach.

"We've got enough talent and depth within those games to make the adjustments we need as it comes along."

At the same time, McFarland, assistant coach at Connacht between 2006 and 2015, admits it will unrealistic to expect perfection from his side this weekend after their six months of competitive inactivity.

"We've never had a six-month break before and then straight into a game.

"We do have a benchmark in terms of what we know these players as this team have achieved in the past. Will we achieve that first time out? I very much doubt it.

"It would be unreasonable to expect we'd be playing as well as we could do in January or February of a normal season.

"However, we do have high standards, so we'll be searching for that and hopefully we can get somewhere close to that."

Ulster have consulted with Frank Murphy and other Irish referees over the game's laws in recent weeks

Murphy to ref Aviva Stadium game

McFarland noted that the error rate even in Super Rugby was "high" when it resumed.

"Guys aren't anticipating the speed of the game, there's a little lack of cohesion.

"There was a lot of kicking in the first rounds of Super Rugby, which didn't look great and is pretty unusual for New Zealand rugby. That was one element that really stuck out."

As ever, refereeing interpretation could prove important in the coming weeks and Ulster have had consultations with this weekend's whistler, former Connacht player Frank Murphy, and other Irish match officials over recent weeks.

Looking at Connacht, McFarland says they have come a long way from the team from whom literally making a mark on the opposition was sometimes the summit of their ambition.

'We were going to hurt somebody'

McFarland played more than 100 times for Connacht between 2000 and 2006 and the club clinched their historic Pro12 triumph in 2016 the season after his nine-year assistant coach stint ended with his appointment as Glasgow Warriors assistant.

Connacht's continuing status was emphasised in October 2018 when they earned their first win in Belfast in 58 years as Bundee Aki's late intercept try completed a 22-15 win.

"It wasn't a question of giving them a bloody nose in terms of the result, it was in terms of actually giving them a bloody nose," laughed McFarland of the days when Connacht's very survival was a struggle.

"It was a case of we weren't going to win but we were going to hurt somebody.

"Since then things have grown, and I suppose the further it went on in the time I was there, the more feasible it was for us to be a consistent challenger against the other provinces, and that's a testament to that province.

"Some people called us a Cinderella province and we took that as an insult."