'I'd be a lot more confident than last week' - Ulster coach Dan McFarland hopeful Munster clash can go ahead
Ulster head coach Dan McFarland. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Ulster coach Dan McFarland says he is hopeful his side will be able to fulfil their fixture against Munster at Thomond Park this Saturday.
The northern province have been dealing with a number of cases of Covid-19 in the past two weeks and saw their Christmas clashes with Connacht and Leinster postponed as a result.
The head coach said he'll have a clearer picture of who is and isn't available tomorrow after the latest round of PCR testing, but says the squad is in a better place than it was a week ago when the Leinster game was called off.
Ulster came into the festive period on the back of a great run of form and McFarland admitted the disruption has been a difficulty.
"It was really exciting, coming from Europe into two home interpros. We were really looking forward to that," he said.
"Yes, it's frustrating, it's a funny old world when you take it in your stride and you get on with it.
"The bottom line is if people are getting sick we've got to do everything we can to make sure they are healthy.
"We're just going to proceed as if the game is going ahead, that's what we'll do. It's safe to say we are in a better position than we were in last week.
"We've got rounds of test but you can never be completely confident but as I say, I'd be a lot more confident than I was last week.
"We're extremely lucky with the support staff we have here, we have regular testing, there's a huge amount of information available to people."
Despite the adversity, McFarland says Ulster are in a good spot and are preparing as normally as possible.
"The medical care is on hand all the time. We are in a lucky position, There are a lot of people who don't have that kind of support," he said.
"We all want to play and a lot of people out there want to see us. We'll do everything we can to do that.
"We're in a pretty good place today, in terms of morale, it gets frustrating but it is what it is.
"We started preparations for the Leinster game and that was called off relatively early. The Connacht game was later but I knew that there was a possibility but the players didn't until late on.
"We're in a good place, we arrived this morning with a good chunk of the squad here.
"We've started looking at the Munster game. It's a great place to be when you are back in work and prepping to play a massive game."
