The visitors troubled their interprovincial rivals for much of the first hour in Dublin, crossing through James Hume and Rob Herring, but yellow cards for Hume and Harry Sheridan proved costly as Leinster ultimately wrestled control.

McFarland acknowledged the quality of four-time champions Leinster and admitted that Ulster’s ill-discipline made their task all the more difficult.

“They're a good team, aren't they?" he said. "I was really proud of the way our guys fronted up physically.

“I thought the preparation from the support staff and the players during the week in the lead-up to this game was excellent.

"But, on the day, you've got to be able to execute to a really, really high level and be really precise when you're playing a team like Leinster because there was barely a gimme today.

"There was barely an occasion where they would make an error and give us some sort of access. Everything that was won was fought for.

"On the reverse side, we probably lacked a bit of discipline that gave access and they were ruthless there, particularly off the back of our scores which didn't really allow us to gain any momentum in the game. So that was probably the story of it."

McFarland went on to reiterate Leinster’s elite standard and how Ulster needed to be more accurate when handed a rare attacking opportunity.

"I don't know, what are the games they've lost over the last two calendar years?" he added. "They've lost to us twice, lost to La Rochelle twice [in the Heineken Champions Cup], lost to the Bulls in the [United Rugby Championship] semi-final.

"How many lineout opportunities did we get in that game? I mean to really go after them. I think we had one in the first half, and we had a malfunction. We had two in the second half, won a penalty and scored a try. We needed more.

"But if they pressurise you and you also add on to that penalties you could have avoided, we're not going to get those opportunities. That was really the story of it. We gave everything we had but just not quite good enough."

Ulster Rugby head coach Dan McFarland has conceded that his team weren’t good enough to reach the Heineken Champions Cup quarter-finals after going down 30-15 at Leinster Rugby last Saturday.