Stephen Ferris pinpoints where the fault lies as Dan McFarland heads for Ulster exit door

Stephen Ferris

Stephen Ferris took a swipe at Dan McFarland for his comments after the defeat to Ospreys on Sunday, which looks to have been the Englishman’s last game in charge.

The latest disappointing result for the province looks set to bring McFarland’s six-year reign at Kingspan Stadium to an end. It has been a season of ups and downs for the province as a first win in 22 visits to Leinster capped an impressive festive period.

But shipping a combined 95 points in heavy losses to Toulouse and Harlequins ended their Champions Cup hopes at the group stage. A string of poor results in recent weeks came to a head following the loss at Ospreys, where they led with five seconds to go before a drop goal from Ospreys flyhalf Dan Edwards, and McFarland’s tenure looks set to come to an end.

Speaking after that defeat in Swansea McFarland was less than happy with some of the refereeing decisions which he felt went against his side.

But Ferris didn’t pull any punches in his riposte on ‘X’ [formerly Twitter] as he posted: “Any Ulster fan that wants to know why things aren’t going to plan, just remember it’s the referees fault….”

McFarland was appointed to the role in 2018 replacing Jono Gibbes and is Ulster’s longest-serving coach in the professional era.

Ulster are back in action again on March 2 when they host Dragons in the URC, before they travel to Montpellier in the last 16 of the Challenge Cup on April 7.

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