Ulster: Province continue to improve but need greater consistency - Dan McFarland
- Published
Ulster are now one point behind Conference A leaders Leinster, who play on Sunday
Ulster head coach Dan McFarland says he is proud that his side have kept pace with reigning Pro14 champions Leinster throughout the season.
Ulster beat Ospreys on Friday but did not secure a bonus-point, meaning Leinster can extend their lead to six points with a bonus-point win of their own on Sunday against Glasgow.
That would mean they can afford to lose to Ulster next week and still stay in charge of the conference with two rounds of fixtures remaining before the final.
"It's disappointing, I'm pretty proud of the fact that we're in a position close to the end of the season where we are up there competing with Leinster because nobody else is," said McFarland.
"Our focus will now turn to a massive match against the best team in our league next week.
"I think we've closed that gap [to Leinster]. Over a period of time we've become much more competitive, not only with them but also with the other teams and the kind of performances we're able to put out on the park when we play well.
"But also the way we're able to win when we're not playing well which is a really good marker for a strong squad and a strong team.
"We've come a long way but in the last couple of weeks we've only fired in short bursts in the games but when we have we've been really good."
"I'm pretty pleased with what we're capable of, we just need to be more consistent."
Ulster's win over Ospreys came after a slow start and a first half in which they failed to play anywhere close to their top-level, although they did improve after the break.
It was the northern province's 12th league win of the season, and a solid result against a side that arrived in Belfast having won their last four games.
"Fair play to Ospreys, I thought they came with intent and why wouldn't they?" McFarland said.
"We look as if we weren't respecting the difficulty of the match as much as we should have in the first half and they made us pay for that in terms of territory and possession.
"Second half I thought we came out and played some really nice stuff."