Champions Cup: Toulouse 61 Ulster 21
It looked a mismatch on paper and not surprisingly proved to be in practice too as Toulouse eviscerated Richie Murphy’s side, scoring nine tries on an afternoon when Antoine Dupont played some sublime rugby.
Though the weather was grim, the reigning champions had Ulster’s number from the off and had powered their way to 40 points by the midway point.
Emmanuel Meafou and Ange Capuozzo both claimed braces, Antoine Dupont, Matthis Lebel, Romain Ntamack and Santiago Chocobares also crossed the line, and the final play resulting in a penalty try.
James McCormick, Stewart Moore and Iain Henderson scored tries for Ulster, whose big guns had been benched for this opener.
Inside two minutes Toulouse were off, Dupont ran a line and the hosts moved the ball left with Matthis Lebel making the corner despite the efforts of Stewart Moore.
Thomas Ramos missed the extras but made no mistake with his second attempt after Romain Ntamack dived over from Dupont after Toulouse had trucked it up from a maul, the conversion seeing them 12-0 ahead.
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To their credit, Ulster came into the game and after tapping a penalty. James McCormick made the line and Nathan Doak conversion cut the deficit to five points.
Toulouse responded almost immediately as Emmanuel Meafou surged over from close range with Ramos’ conversion taking it to 19-7.
Ntamack then had a try ruled out for being offside, but the bonus point came when Ange Capuozzo was put clear by Lebel.
Ramos converted and then once more when Dupont shredded Ulster out wide and got the follow up after Lebel was held short, taking the score to 33-7.
Ulster rolled up their sleeves again though and after the pack had taken the ball to the line, Aidan Morgan picked out Stewart Moore who scored under the sticks, Doak converting.
With the clock now in the red, Toulouse finished the half in an appropriate fashion, Meafou scoring his second as the TMO overturned Adam Leal’s initial decision of no try. Ramos hit the two and the sides trooped off in the rain, Toulouse ahead 40-14.
It took 10 minutes for the French side to get going again, with Lebel giving Santiago Chocobares the chance to score try number seven. Ramos making his conversion count six from seven.
Dupont then provided an exquisite cross-kick for Capuozzo to claim his second in the corner and Ramos, yet again, converted as the scoreboard hit 54 points for the home team.
Iain Henderson burrowed his way over to alter the one-sided narrative, his effort, converted by Doak, allowing Ulster to focus on chasing a try bonus.
However, the match ended with Toulouse pressing hard and being awarded a penalty try with the final play.
Scoring sequence: 2 mins: Ramos try 5-0; 9: Ntamack try, Ramos con 12-0; 14: McCormick try, Doak con 12-7; 15: Meafou try, Ramos con 19-7; 28: Capuozzo try, Ramos con 26-7; 31: Dupont try, Ramos con 33-7; 36: Moore try, Doak con 33-14; 40: Meafou try, Ramos con 40-14; Half-time 40-14; 51: Chocobares try, Ramos con 47-14; 57: Capuozzo try, Ramos con 54-14; 68: Henderson try, Doak con 54-21; 80: penalty try 61-21.
TOULOUSE: T Ramos; A Capuozzo, P-L Barassi, S Chocobares, M Lebel; R Ntamack, A Dupont (capt); D Ainu’u, P Mauvaka, D Aldegheri; T Flament, E Meafou; J Willis, L Banos, A Roumat. Replacements: J Marchand for Mauvaka (44 mins), R Neti for Ainu’u, J Merkler for Aldegheri (both 48), P Costes for Chocobares (57), T Ntamack for Willis (58), P Graou for Dupont, J Brennan for Meafou (both 59), J C Mallia for R Ntamack (61).
ULSTER: S Moore; W Kok, B Carson, S McCloskey, M Lowry; A Morgan, N Doak; A Warwick, J McCormick, S Wilson; A O’Connor (capt), H Sheridan; Matty Rea, Marcus Rea, J McNabney. Replacements: J Postlethwaite for Carson (21 mins), R Herring for McCormick, T O’Toole for Wilson (both HT), C Izuchukwu for Matty Rea, N Timoney for McNabney (both 52), E O’Sullivan for Warwick, I Henderson for O’Connor (both 58), D Shanahan for Morgan (59).
Referee: A Leal (England).
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