Ulster boss hails ‘terrific achievement’ in Clermont

Planet Rugby

Ulster head coach Dan McFarland expressed his delight after his team started their Champions Cup campaign with an impressive first-ever victory in Clermont.

The 29-23 result could prove vital for Ulster, with the Irish province now in a good place in Europe and a home clash with Northampton to come next week.

McFarland hailed the character shown by his side, and said: “It’s obviously a terrific achievement to come and win in Clermont at any stage for any team.

Controlled the game

“They are a great team. They are probably not playing their best rugby at the moment, but they still have the same players who are able to do amazing stuff.

“I thought we played really well in the way we controlled the game. The bottom line is we’ve got a lot of lads out there who aren’t maybe considered our starters but have been performing really well.

“They were magnificent today. In the game itself there were a litany of things which were difficult to deal with in terms of Michael Lowry going off and Rob Baloucoune going off.

“I’m so proud of the lads and what they’ve done today. That’s really a victory that we should be proud of.

“The bottom line is the last time we came here we played really well in the first half and then the game slipped away from us just after half-time.

“Good teams are able to squeeze you in that period if they are a little bit behind, and today they did squeeze us in that third quarter.

“Ultimately we were able to get back into the game with some good team play and some huge individual play as well.”

Ulster scored two tries courtesy of Stuart McCloskey and Nick Timoney, while John Cooney kicked 19 points. Damian Penaud crossed for a brace of tries for Clermont and JJ Hanrahan contributed 10 points from the kicking tee.

Despite the impressive nature of the victory, McFarland insists his side will not be getting carried away.

“We can’t get ahead of ourselves,” he said.

“We’ve got Northampton next week who are going to be desperate to stay in contention after losing to Racing. We will need to be at our best and we need to keep improving to be successful in this competition.”

Gruff Rees full of pride after Cardiff performance

Cardiff academy manager Gruff Rees praised his depleted team after they battled bravely in a 39-7 defeat to Champions Cup holders Toulouse on Saturday.

The game at the Arms Park took place against a backdrop of more than 30 of the hosts’ players and a number of staff, including director of rugby Dai Young, isolating until next week.

Cardiff had been due to play United Rugby Championship games in South Africa last month, and had already arrived there when it became a UK Government red-listed country as fresh travel restrictions were imposed following the discovery of a new coronavirus variant.

“There are so many individual stories behind every player on that pitch today,” Rees said.

“It was a remarkable effort, and I am chuffed we put some good rugby on show against a team that we flustered a little bit and made it scary for them, and we can be proud of that.”