McFarland slams 'terrible' Ulster after late collapse against Munster

Dan McFarland said Ulster have a "big issue" when it comes to closing out games after they fell to a last-gasp loss to Munster.

Having survived a nervy finish against Connacht before Christmas, Ulster were punished for another late collapse on New Year’s Day as Ben Healy’s try from the final play consigned them to a fourth defeat in five matches.

Ulster led for the majority of their latest interprovincial derby in Belfast but had only three John Cooney penalties and an unconverted Robert Baloucoune try to show for large spells of dominance.

Baloucoune’s try put them 14-5 up with 13 minutes remaining but they allowed Munster back into the contest and were punished at the death.

"We were terrible," said Ulster head coach McFarland. "I don’t want to take anything away from Munster but ever there is a game where we decided our own fate, this is it.

"I think we had the ball 11 times in their 22 and scored once. We lost the ball on 10 occasions, I think I’m right in saying that. The only time we kept the ball through any number of phases, we scored a great try. We lost three lineouts and were profligate with the ball on a lot of occasions.

"To be fair to them, they looked magnificent when they were holding onto the ball. They got the ball three times in our 22 and scored twice. That was the game."

McFarland said the leg injury suffered by Marty Moore "doesn’t look good" after the prop was stretchered off on the half-hour.

Ulster led 9-0 at half-time, having survived a late Munster onslaught while Tom Stewart was in the sin bin. However, they conceded a try within four minutes of the restart when Paddy Patterson crossed in the corner.

"We had one really good set of defence on our line at the end of the first half and I thought that was