Ulster 13-20 Leinster: Hosts lucky to get losing bonus-point - McFarland

Ulster head coach Dan McFarland says his side were "bested in most areas" following Friday's 20-13 defeat by Irish rivals Leinster.

Leinster built a 20-3 lead in torrential conditions and held off a late Ulster fightback.

The defeat is Ulster's first of the season while Leinster remain unbeaten.

"We were probably lucky to get a losing bonus-point in the end with the way that we gave them the lead," McFarland said.

Ryan Baird and Dan Sheehan scored for Leinster, the latter of which came from a maul after Ulster were penalised following a quickly-taken line-out by winger Aaron Sexton.

John Andrew scored after the restart for Ulster but McFarland's side fell short as Sexton also saw a try disallowed for a knock-on.

• Leinster hold off Ulster in rain-hit derby

Heavy rain in Belfast saw both sides produce error-strewn showings midway through the game and McFarland felt the visitors handled the conditions better.

"You never want to lose an inter-pro game and especially not at home," McFarland added.

"They are a good team but I feel we are better than the performance we put in tonight.

"They came up and showed an intensity in every moment in the game.

"We lost a few of those battles - collisions-wise, set-piece-wise, skills-wise - so there are a couple of things that we will probably have to address.

"There were a couple of times in the first half where I felt we could have controlled areas of the pitch a bit better. There were also a couple of times where we chased really hard and put some real pressure on them.

"They didn't make many mistakes in the first half and we did."

McFarland backs young winger Sexton

McFarland handed young winger Sexton a start for Leinster's visit to Belfast after impressing against Scarlets the previous week, however a misjudged quickly-taken line-out saw Leinster force a penalty for their second try.

"That was a big mistake," said McFarland.

"It was a big error that might come off against some sides, but on the balance of probability of it coming off against Leinster it didn't.

"I wouldn't put that under the heading of 'playing rugby'. There might have been an opportunity to clear our lines if we played it quickly but clearly it wasn't there and it ended up with a costly try for them."

Sexton also saw a late try ruled out as the ball was knocked on as he went to touch down under pressure from Charlie Ngatai.

Aaron Sexton saw a try disallowed for a knock-on as the winger went to ground the ball

Despite the mistake that contributed to Sheehan powered over for Leinster's second try, McFarland said "it's one of those things in professional sport" and backed the 22-year-old winger.

"Aaron is desperate to get better and he will take it as an experience he can take to improve himself," he added.

"I feel for him but it is what it is. A big opportunity but he didn't quite get it right.

"He is a young player and that is what happens to young players. Sometimes when you are a winger it stands out more than if you are in the middle of a scrum.

"He'll bounce back from that. He is a good, young talent and the guys will look after him."