Clermont Auvergne 23-29 Ulster: Dan McFarland 'so proud' of resilient side
- Published
John Cooney was again instrumental in a memorable European win for Ulster
Dan McFarland says Ulster side should be "so proud" of their 29-23 European Champions Cup victory over Clermont.
The province travelled without several senior players including captain Iain Henderson and they lost wing Robert Baloucoune to injury in the first half.
However they exhibited impressive resilience to claim the win having surrendered an early 16-point lead.
"There was a litany of things that were difficult to deal with," McFarland said.
"I'm so proud of the lads and what they've done today, that's really a victory we should be proud of."
It was Ulster's first visit to Stade Marcel-Michelin since January 2020, when they started brightly before being comprehensively beaten by their hosts.
On Saturday they delivered a similarly fast start and surged into a 16-point lead by the 26th minute only for Clermont to come back to take the lead midway through the second half.
However on this occasion Ulster did not stay down and moved back ahead via a Nick Timoney try and John Cooney's penalty from inside his own half.
"The last time we came here we played really well in the first half and then the game slipped away from us in that just before half-time, just after-half-time period," said McFarland.
"Good teams are able to squeeze you at that period if they're a little behind. Today they did squeeze us just before half-time in that third quarter.
"We got a number of things wrong like our smart kicking game, it wasn't as effective as it was in the first half.
"We allowed them to break out on a number of occasions and brought pressure back onto ourselves but ultimately we were able to get back into the game with some really good play and some huge individual plays as well."
Baloucoune's shoulder injury, sustained when the wing was tip-tackled by Jaco von Tonder who was subsequently sin-binned, was a blemish on an otherwise excellent day for Ulster.
While McFarland said the extent of the Ireland international's injury was not yet known, it was clear he was "not going to be playing next week".
He's not going to be playing next week, put it like that.