Ulster Rugby

Had Covid-19 not interrupted Ulster's schedule for the spring of 2020, today's Champions Cup last-16 tie would be the northern province's second visit to ...

Although, as Toulouse may note, relevant for the first time, they did at least edge the aggregate. His five penalties that night produced a result that no less a figure than David Humphreys believes was the birth of big European nights at Ravenhill. The rest, as they say, is history.

Robert Baloucoune's hat-trick helped Ulster to a famous Champions Cup last-16 first-leg 26-20 win over Toulouse.

The first had come in the 39th minute. But they were called back for a knock-on and just the second scrum of the match. John Cooney missed the conversion, which kept Toulouse in the lead by a point.

Here's how to watch a Toulouse vs Ulster live stream from anywhere, as the reigning champions take on the Irish province in a game where form goes out of ...

beIN Sports FREE trial (opens in new tab) (AU) Live stream: BT Sport (opens in new tab) (UK, IRE) You also have the option of paying $10 a month for commercial-free coverage. We've put all the major VPNs through their paces and we rate ExpressVPN as our top pick, thanks to its speed, ease of use and strong security features. You can login on two devices at once, and access BT Sport Ultimate's content in 4K. Form is temporary and class is permanent, goes the old cliché, which will be put to the test as holders Toulouse take on Ulster in the round of 16.

'It gives us massive confidence going to a big team, knowing we can come away with the win which we haven't done in years gone by.'

“To see the young players coming in and getting more game time alongside the experienced players, I think any team would see an improvement in their performances. But perhaps more invitingly, a chance to really make your mark in Europe. But this is a chance for Ulster to really send out a statement to the rest of Europe themselves. We’ll do what we usually do and stay within our systems, but if we can contain him a little bit more than other teams then that’ll be huge in getting a result.” “That was a very difficult game to analyse after. “I’ve been watching a lot of [Dupont] during the Six Nations and I watched [Toulouse] at the weekend – we all know what he can do, he can create something out of nothing. That’s probably been our best performance this season and if we can emulate that again this week then I think we’ll go a long way.” Indeed, the second-half collapse at Welford Road in their semi-final against Leicester Tigers still haunts them. “These European games in general, your preparation tends to be a bit better than usual. “He’s playing unbelievable at the moment and he probably doesn’t have any weaknesses. he kicks it a long way for such a small guy. It’s a reflection of where we are in the league and where we are in Europe.”

Defending European champions Toulouse had to play with only 14 men for the majority of their encounter with Ulster after Juan Cruz Mallia was red carded in ...

For only the third time this season, Toulouse found themselves on the losing side of the scoreboard at home. Romain Ntamack almost sunk the hearts of Ulster supporters by scoring in the dying minutes. Toulouse kept their hopes alive through a combination of Ulster ill-discipline and a powerful lineout defence. It was a mile a minute for each side at the start of the second half. In spite of being a man up, though, Ulster's discipline let them down throughout the remainder of the half. However, they were dealt a massive boost when Toulouse winger Juan Cruz Mallia was red carded for taking out Ben Moxham in the air.

Ulster have completed a stunning upset against reigning champions Toulouse. The French side went down to 14 men with a red card after just ten minutes.

Amateur jockey Sam Waley-Cohen clinched the victory in the final race of his career. Goals from Darren Craven and Michael Barker has given Longford Town a 2-0 lead over Athlone Town in the second half of their clash. Tottenham have taken control of fourth place in the Premier League with a 4-nil victory at Aston Villa. The Ulster men have a six-point advantage after the #HeinekenChampionsCupRound of 16 First Leg. Shane Daly got the only try of the game for the visitors as Exeter were down to 13 men with two yellow cards. After a bruising encounter with the English side, the final score was 13-8.

Baloucoune's triple - two of them coming early in each half and his third 13 minutes from time via an interception deep inside his own 22 - were ...

The first had come in the 39th minute. John Cooney missed the conversion, which kept Toulouse in the lead by a point. But they were called back for a knock-on and just the second scrum of the match.

Ulster secured a shock win earlier over Champions Cup holders Toulouse, with help from an unlucky red card and a hat-trick from Robert Baloucoune.

Toulouse even found time to launch another attack for the win but knocked on and Barnes blew up to the relief of Ulster. The score opened up a wide 26-13 lead for the away team but they will be kicking themselves for letting in a last minute try to leave a final score of 26-20. Toulouse had a try chalked off by the TMO, before Andrew Warwick came off the bench to score Ulster’s third try of the afternoon.

Robert Baloucoune scores hat-trick of tries to eke out a six point advantage for return in Belfast.

It would end in a pulsating 26-20 win for Ulster and a result that tees up a mouth-watering return leg at the Kingspan Stadium next Saturday. A 13 point advantage heading back to Belfast would have been a massive buffer, but French out-half Ntamack dived over for a converted try in the 80th minute. Andy Warwick then dived over from close range for a converted try to make it 19-13 to the visitors before an intercepted Baloucoune try made it 26-13 in the 67th minute.

STADE TOULOUSAIN: Thomas Ramos; Juan Cruz Mallía, Zack Holmes, Pita Ahki, Matthis Lebel; Romain Ntamack, Antoine Dupont (capt); Rodrigue Neti, Peato Mauvaka, ...

The replacements Cyrille Baille, Richie Arnold and Anthony Jelonch then made inroads only for Baloucoune to read Dupont’s risky long flat pass off the base and score from 80 minutes, to the fury of the crowd as they implored the officials during several replays that the Ulster right-winger was offside. On the second of these it was Antoine Dupont who both tackled and counter-rucked to win the turnover penalty. Ulster needed the interval to regroup, calm down and work out how to maximise their advantage. They required a superb tackle by Baloucoune on Thomas Ramos to keep the home side at bay but second time round Toulouse worked hooker Peato Mauvaka up the blindside of an unawares Ulster blindside defence. Even Antoine Dupont was a little off-colour but they have been kept alive by Romain Nrtamack’s late try although the ‘defeat’ also came at a cost for Toulouse, whose replacements Alban Placines and Sofiane Guitoune both departed prematurely with injuries while Mallia faces a suspension. And yet they kept calm at critical moments, showed what a talented side they are and had an ace up their sleeves in Robert Baloucoune, assuredly the best finisher in Irish rugby for some time now.

Ulster head coach Dan McFarland believes his side will need to improve next weekend when they take on Toulouse for a second time in Belfast.

Although McFarland is correct in saying that Ulster could have done better at the lineout and at the breakdown, they did a lot of things very well at the Stadium de Toulouse. McFarland was speaking to the Belfast Telegraph after the game and acknowledged that his side have a lot to work on if they hope to make the Heineken Champions Cup quarter-finals. Very few would have predicted that Ulster would come away with a win from the home of the reigning European and French champions, but they did just that, as they notched a 26-21 victory against Toulouse.