Ulster 23 Toulouse 30 (Toulouse win 50-49 on agg)
Say what you want about the last-16 double-headers, but twice in the same day this new format has thrown up one-point thrillers that went down to the last. There was a prevailing undercurrent that Ulster should have put more on Toulouse in their victory last week, and so it proved as a smash-and-grab seven-point win in Belfast saw the champions overturn the six-point first-leg deficit.
Saturday night's affair was frustrating, scrappy and ill-disciplined but certainly the tie of the round so far. Five tries, three cards and one late Antoine Dupont moment of brilliance, and just like that Ulster are sent packing after 155 minutes of brilliant rugby. It was the five at the end that cost them – where Dupont proved the difference yet again.
A sold-out crowd witnessed two yellow cards in the first 10 minutes, perhaps jitters on both sides. Robert Baloucoune was put on the naughty step for taking out Anthony Jelonch in the air moments after his jackal allowed Thomas Ramos to open the scoring, while Dimitri Delibes joined him there not long after. Lifting Ethan McIlroy beyond the horizontal was his crime.
From there, Toulouse threatened to implode. Dupont showed he is human; he eats, breathes and throws ill-judged offloads just like the rest of us. His poor attempt metres from his own line gifted Ulster the platform and they did not waste it, Ethan McIlroy crashing over once James Hume stepped past one man and offloaded beyond another.
John Cooney extended the lead after yet another offload went awry. Selevasio Tolofua this time caught his own effort after it rebounded forward off Romain Ntamack's back – an easy offside call for referee Matthew Carley – the outhalf too busy barking out instructions for the next phase to those behind him.
Yet as long as Toulouse played with such abandon, you couldn't help but feel they had a game-changing moment in them. Sure enough, Ntamack legitimised such Ulster concerns by elegantly dancing past Rob Herring in midfield. Mr Support Line himself, Dupont, was on his inside but still needed one more runner for the score, Ramos obliging from fullback.
The script well and truly flipped from there, this time Ulster gifting a needless score away. Cooney offered Ntamack a long-range score of his own, the outhalf reading his attempted pass to Stuart McCloskey perfectly to sprint home from just outside the Toulouse 22.
Beyond a pirouette from Iain Henderson that had the crowd rightly on its feet, Ulster relied on Toulouse indiscretion for opportunities in the 22, which is how the half ended after a scrum penalty allowed Billy Burns to pin his forwards into the danger zone. After their initial good work at the maul, another Burns kick, this time across the park under advantage, looked to be too high for the chasing McIlroy but his finish that involved an acrobatic leap in the corner was nothing short of spectacular.
Advantage Toulouse at half-time on the night, but crucially, Ulster were three points to the good overall.
The errors didn’t let up when the teams returned. Mauvaka – a 124kg hooker – had the ball ripped in contact by McIlroy who gave up nearly 40 kilos in the collision, only for Dupont to then immediately rip it off him. At least it was a momentary glimpse of McIlroy showing his ability on the defensive side after his try-scoring exploits.
Burns disappeared for a HIA with 20 minutes remaining, not to return. No matter, with Michael Lowry now at 10, he would get his hands on the ball more often just as he was starting to threaten a tired defence. However, his first act at outhalf was to force a TMO review after an aerial collision with Ramos. The Ulsterman got away without even giving away a penalty since he was adjudged to be in a position to catch the ball.
That wasn't to be the last we heard from TMO Ian Tempest. After Cooney and Ramos exchanged a further round of penalties – the first scores since the break – Toulouse got the sign of life they needed when Tom O'Toole became the latest player to see red for making contact to the head. In truth, the officials could have punished Herring too, his challenge in the same collision with Jelonch was arguably more dangerous with a higher degree of force and a tucked arm.
True to form, Toulouse continued to shoot themselves in the foot. A loose pass into touch followed by a maul penalty allowed Cooney to stretch the lead in the tie to six – the visitors needed a converted try heading into the last minutes.
When Mauvaka and Ramos played with fire on their own line and nearly gifted Ulster a score, that result looked the most unlikely. That is, until Monsieur Dupont switched to outhalf. Consecutive penalties into the corner allowed him to put an incredible level of tempo on the ball considering how late into the game we were. Of course, it was he who burst through the line 10 metres out to break Ulster hearts.
A late Emmanuel Meafou jackal allowed Ntamack to kick to the corner, from where the Toulouse pack mauled the clock down and Ulster out of the tournament. Munster await them but based on this showing, this is far from the Toulouse outfit that bundled them out of Europe last season.
SCORING SEQUENCE – 2 mins: Ramos pen 0-3 (26-23); 11: McIlroy try, Cooney con 7-3 (33-23); 13: Ramos pen 7-6 (33-26); 19: Cooney pen 10-6 (36-26); 22: Ramos try, con 10-13 (36-33); 27: Ntamack try, Ramos con 10-20 (36-40); 38: McIlroy try, Cooney con 17-20 (43-40); half-time 17-20 (43-40); 53: Cooney pen 20-20 (46-40); 64: Ramos pen 20-23 (46-43); 69: Cooney pen 23-23 (49-43); 75: Dupont try, con Ramos 23-30 (49-50).
ULSTER: M Lowry; R Baloucoune, J Hume, S McCloskey, E McIlroy; B Burns, J Cooney; A Warwick, R Herring, M Moore; A O'Connor, I Henderson (capt); Marcus Rea, N Timoney, D Vermeulen.
Replacements: K Treadwell for O'Connor (53 mins), J Murphy for Rea (54), R Lyttle for Burns (HIA, 59), E O'Sullivan for Warwick, T O'Toole for Moore (both 63), Moore for Lyttle (69), O'Connor for Treadwell (76). Not used: B Roberts, N Doak, L Marshall
Yellow card: R Baloucoune (3 mins)
Red Card: T O'Toole (65 mins)
TOULOUSE: T Ramos; D Delibes, T Nanai-Williams, P Ahki, M Lebel; R Ntamack, A Dupont (capt); R Neti, P Mauvaka, C Faumuina; Rory Arnold, Richie Arnold; R Elstadt, A Jelonch, S Tolofua.
Replacements: L Tauzin for Lebel (12 mins), D Aldegheri for Faumuina (51), T Flament for Tolofua, Meafou for Richie Arnold (both 55), D Ainu'u for Neti (63), A Miquel for Rory Arnold (64); B Germain for Nanai-Williams (74). Not used: G Cramont
Yellow card: D Delibes (6 mins)
Referee: M Carley (England).
