Dan McFarland dismisses Coetzee speculation

Ulster coach Dan McFarland has dismissed speculation linking Marcell Coetzee with a move back to South Africa. The Springbok loose forward has been instrumental in leading Ulster to the top of Conference A in the Pro14 starting all eight games this season and scoring eight tries.

Blue Bulls head coach Jake White has expressed an interest in bringing Coetzee back to South Africa in recent weeks and when asked if speaks to the loose forward White replied: “as often as I can”.

“Remember, legally you are not allowed to start interacting with players when they’ve got contracts,” added White.

“I just ask him what it’s like to play in Europe and what it’s like at Ulster. Guys have contracts, and we are busy trying to build a team and we are in a very fortunate position where our shareholders are visionary, long-term, we want to create a good or special team, like Liverpool, and Man United, and Barcelona and Juventus, in Pretoria.”

Coetzee is under contract to Ulster until the end of the 2021/22 season and McFarland is adamant he’s going nowhere.

“I haven’t read anything about that, Marcel is an Ulster player who is contracted to Ulster but I can’t comment on that anymore,” stated McFarland.