LAST UPDATE | 1 Jun 2022

ULSTER HEAD COACH Dan McFarland insists he will always be led by the science when it comes to concussions after standing down tighthead prop Marty Moore for the remainder of the season due to multiple head injuries.

The Kingspan Stadium chief revealed that former Ireland international Moore had sustained “a couple of concussions” across the course of the season and that the medical team at the province decided the best approach would be to keep him out for the remainder of the campaign as a result.

That means the prop will miss the entirety of Ulster’s United Rugby Championship play-off campaign, starting with Friday’s quarter-final against Munster, while it effectively ends any outside hopes he may have harboured of sneaking into Andy Farrell’s Ireland squad for their tour of New Zealand.

Concussion is, of course, one of the buzzwords in rugby these days due to the ongoing research being done into head injuries, particularly in light of former players speaking up over long-term effects that multiple concussions have had on their health.

And, for his part, McFarland maintains that if those with a speciality in the field dictate that a player cannot participate due to a head injury, he’s happy to put that directive first.

“To be honest, it’s a reflection of the science and the expertise. To me, I’ll always be guided by that,” said the head coach.

“That doesn’t mean that everybody just sits back and takes no interest in it or has no comment on it, but for me there has been a thorough process that has been put in place that utilises all the information that is currently available.

“I’m not sure there’s anywhere in the world that is claiming absolute expertise around this, but there are people who know as much as there is to be known and making use of that information at this current time, being able to make informed decisions around that is the way I see the medical teams going about this.

“This isn’t one person, there are multitude stakeholders in that, not least the player. Interestingly, the biggest (stakeholder) in that isn’t the player, because they can be stood down without their consent. In a sense, I’m not really a stakeholder in that other than the fact that I’ll support the decisions the medical team take on that.

“I can’t imagine there are any coaches that would be in any other position and I admire those guys for the amount of effort they put into understanding how this process works and the science, the guidance that comes from World Rugby.”

In Moore’s absence, Ireland international Tom O’Toole looks certain to be the man to step up into the starter’s jersey for Friday’s last-eight tie with their inter-provincial rivals at Kingspan Stadium as Ulster try and avenge two regular season losses to Munster in the postseason.

The most recent of those was particularly galling, a 24-17 loss in Belfast where Ulster were a long way from their best as the hangover of being knocked out of the Heineken Champions Cup by Toulouse lasted well over a week later and almost cost them a home quarter-final.

Instead, wins over Edinburgh and the Cell C Sharks have Ulster back at Kingspan Stadium against their southern cousins looking to ensure their season doesn’t end with two home knock-out defeats, and McFarland isn’t spending too much time dwelling on those prior meetings with Munster.

“It’s knockout rugby against a good team who are going to have their superstars back and have beaten us twice so far this season and will be arriving here expecting to win and will be carrying the favourites tag,” he adds.

“You can really overthink it if you’re not too careful. We can go back and look at the games we played against Munster, they are a very difficult opponent to play against. Teams never win by much when they do beat them, and we generally don’t.

“We had one game in the last four years we were reasonably comfortable in, outside of that it’s been tooth and nail stuff, and because of that the margins are fine. Throwing the baby out with the bathwater wouldn’t be realistic.

“You believe in what you do, you look at the things that you didn’t get right in games and could improve in, and adjust. We won’t be going far away from our principles because when we do what we do well, it’s enough to win matches. We believe that’s enough to beat Munster.”

Get instant updates on your province on The42 app. With Laya Healthcare, official health and wellbeing partner to Leinster, Munster and Connacht Rugby.