Bath 37-14 Ulster: Accuracy a problem, says Dan McFarland as Ulster lose Investec Champions Cup opener
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Watch: Ulster head coach Dan McFarland on his sides performance against Bath
Ulster head coach Dan McFarland bemoaned his side's lack of accuracy after they fell to a heavy loss to Bath in their Investec Champions Cup opener.
The Irish province led 14-8 at the break at the Rec after Billy Burns and Nathan Doak tries.
However, Ulster failed to score in the second half as the Premiership side pulled clear to seal a bonus-point win.
"I think it's the accuracy," McFarland said when asked why Ulster have let leads slip in their last three games.
"We put ourselves in a good position, we had lots of opportunities there. The effort, the physicality, intensity and urgency with which we played was really good.
"But if you make mistakes and give the opposition opportunities then you're always going to be in trouble. Bath were pretty clinical when they got their chances in the second half."
Ulster, who have now lost their last three games having also squandered leads in United Rugby Championship defeats by Glasgow and Edinburgh, held that six-point lead at the break after Burns and Doak touched down in the space of four minutes to cancel out Joe Cokanasiga's opener.
However, having fallen behind to a converted Tom Dunn try early in the second period, Ulster were hindered by a lack of discipline as they conceded 11 penalties with Thomas du Toit putting the game to bed after Matty Rea was sin-binned within five minutes of replacing James McNabney.
Asked if he was concerned by the penalties his side are conceding on a regular basis, McFarland said: "Yes is the answer.
"That is a result of putting ourselves under pressure by not holding on to the ball and not maintaining the pressure when we have it.
"That's something we're certainly focusing on at the moment. It has been a story of our season so far and it's something we need to solve otherwise things won't get better."
Ulster must now regroup in time for the visit of Top 14 leaders Racing 92 to Kingspan Stadium next week as they look to get their season back on track following a hat-trick of defeats.
"We're looking forward to it," McFarland said.
"It's a great challenge. It's Europe, it's Racing, they're flying high in the French championship, they're really dangerous in attack and their defence is really good.
"It provides one of the biggest challenges in Europe at the moment and it's an ideal opportunity for us to go out there and test ourselves again."
'Play with a smile on your face'
In contrast to a disappointed McFarland, Bath head coach Johann van Graan was buoyed by his side's response in the second half having fallen behind at the end of the first period, revealing that he told his players to play "with a smile on your face".
"It was the reaction at half-time," the former Munster head coach said when asked what pleased him most about the performance.
"We were really good in the first 30 minutes then conceded two soft tries. We actually went in behind after playing so well.
"This is the Champions Cup. You're playing top opposition and Ulster are a team I respect so much. We went one point ahead, brilliant conversion by Ben [Spencer] and then just applied pressure."