United Rugby Championship: Exciting final weekend vindicates competition - Dan McFarland

Ulster can finish as high as second and as low as seventh in the URC table going into the final weekend of the regular season

Ulster head coach Dan McFarland says the number of teams with something to play for in the final weekend of the United Rugby Championship vindicates the creation of the competition.

The league replaced the Pro14 last year, with two sides dropping out and four South African outfits joining.

Going into the last weekend of the regular season three points separate the sides in second and sixth.

Ulster host Sharks on Friday, with the winner guaranteed a home quarter-final.

"It's been brilliant," McFarland said of the competition.

"The challenge that we want in terms of the competitive fixtures, when you look at the table and see the games that teams have won and how close everybody is."

Ulster spent much of the season vying for top spot with Leinster and moved to within a point of their inter-provincial rivals at the summit after beating them in Belfast in mid-March.

However, their challenge for top spot fell away with three consecutive defeats that left them fighting for the top-four finish that guarantees a home quarter-final.

Three of the four South African sides introduced to the competition - Stormers, Sharks and Bulls - have secured their place in the play-offs and could all host home quarter-finals.

Sharks have won their last four games including victories over Irish sides Leinster and Connacht

"It's been incredibly competitive," McFarland continued.

"The addition of the four South African teams has produced another element and it's certainly made us have a look at the way that we play, particularly against them, and the kind of things that are needed to take on the South African team.

"We've both (Ulster and the Sharks) qualified for the quarter-finals, we've both qualified for Europe but the prize is a home quarter-final and that's what we're fighting for.

"That has a huge impact for both teams. For us it's about wanting to be able to play at home in front of our fans. It makes it a very important game and one that we're hugely looking forward to."

The Sharks arrive in Belfast having won four consecutive home matches in a run that saw them go undefeated during April.

Ulster have won one of their three games against South African opposition this season - a September home victory over the Lions - and experienced back-to-back away defeats by the Stormers and the Bulls in the spring.

"It's not complicated really, all of them test you in the set-piece and to varying degrees in different areas," he said.

"It's not rocket science but it's at another level to a lot of the teams in the URC. I think all the northern hemisphere teams have experienced that to some degree this year.

"Their physicality and their ball carry is also right up there. Three of those teams are right up there in terms of winning gainline when playing off nine, and it's tough to deal with although that's an area we pride ourselves in.

"Also they've got a lethal back three so broken field running and loose kicking can be fatal against a number of South African teams whether that's the Stormers, the Bulls and particularly the Sharks."