Ulster v Racing 92: Irish province must 'execute attacking intentions better' - McFarland

Dan McFarland has been Ulster's head coach since 2018

Ulster head coach Dan McFarland says his side must execute their attacking intentions better as they prepare to face Racing 92 in Belfast on Saturday.

The Irish province signalled their desire to play a more expansive form of rugby at the start of the season.

After a promising start to the campaign, they have now lost their last three games, including defeat by Bath.

"At the moment on the attack side we are really going after a very high standard," explained McFarland.

"We are not reaching that standard at the moment, as hard as we are trying to get there.

"We're learning all the time from what we're doing and we'll put in place things that will fix it."

Back-to-back United Rugby Championship losses away to Glasgow and home to Edinburgh were followed by an opening Investec Champions Cup reverse against Bath at The Rec on Saturday.

'A delicate balance'

With a series of testing fixtures upcoming, starting with the visit of the French Top 14 leaders to Kingspan Stadium, McFarland is keen to stick with his attacking principles while trying to achieve results.

"We set out in the season to test how well we could attack and move the ball in different areas of the field, to give ourselves as many opportunities as we can to attack and we're currently not doing it well enough," reflected the former Scotland assistant coach.

"That's probably why we are where we are. That's a great challenge for us as a group to solve.

"We're trying to work on things that are very difficult to do. We could play a much easier way and we'd be much more efficient in what we do but we chose not to.

"We chose to go after this because in the long term that will pay off, but we do need to see progress.

"The way we are playing is allowing us to learn stuff but it is also a little bit costly at the moment. It's a delicate balance, we're trying to develop the squad but we're trying to win games at the same time. That's for me to balance and make decisions on."

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'A massive test for us'

McFarland believes facing Racing represents a "huge challenge" for his charges as both sides aim to get their European hopes back on track following defeats at the weekend.

"We know them really well. Big French teams coming to Kingspan is always a big occasion. We're going to really enjoy it but it is a huge challenge.

"They're the number one attacking team in the Top 14 and they're the number one defensive team.

"They're shipping something like 1.6 tries per game, which is next to nothing, phenomenal. It's going to be a massive test for us, but it's the arena you want to be in.

"You want to win your home games because that's what's going to send you through to the last 16, which is where you want to be, to be playing play-off rugby."

Vinaya Habosi in action for Racing 92 against Harlequins last weekend

'We have the weaponry to do the job'

The French side conceded four tries as they went down 31-28 to Harlequins in their first Pool 2 encounter on Sunday.

"I was surprised. I didn't think they [Harlequins] would be able to put as many tries past Racing as they did. They played with real pace and intensity. I thought they caught Racing on the hop a little bit there. I don't think Racing were expecting that.

"There is an element of if you can get the go-forward and you can get pace on the game and you're able to move the ball to the space accurately you can cause them trouble.

"I think we always go into home games against the big French teams feeling that we have a good chance. We love the opportunity to go up against them and feel we have the weaponry to do the job."

Lancaster influence evident

McFarland was emphatic when asked whether he could see the influence of former England head coach and senior Leinster coach Stuart Lancaster in Racing's play this season.

"Definitely in the way they attack, but also in some of the kicking game, but probably mostly in the defensive side of things

"They fill the field really well in defence. They get a lot of people on their feet if they need to and they'll counter-attack, counter-ruck with good decisions when they need to.

"It's very like what Leinster have been doing over the past number of seasons, which is impressive given that he [Lancaster] is only five months in the job [as Racing head coach]. Although they are good players, so they cop on pretty quickly too.

More accuracy needed

Jacob Stockdale is tackled by Sam Underhill and Joe Cokanasiga

McFarland emphasises that his team need to show more accuracy than they did in their 37-14 defeat by Bath last weekend.

"We worked really hard. We were physical, we showed intensity, we showed urgency, but ultimately I don't think we showed accuracy.

"In the middle third of the field at the moment we are not quite accurate enough there and it's very costly.

"You end up turning the ball over, making mistakes there, you forfeit territory and you pile pressure onto yourself.

"Ultimately, in the game, for all our desire and intent to attack, we ended up piling a huge amount of pressure on ourselves.

"It's one of the reasons the game got away from us against Bath and is the same reason that cost us against Edinburgh. It's one of the reasons why we haven't been playing as well as we can do."