An ugly game in Toulouse for Ulster

Ulster lost their final Heineken Cup pool match at Toulouse in a match which was overshadowed by ugly incidents on and off the pitch.

Ulster played well in the first half, going in at half-time 13-10 down but with a lot to play for in the 2nd, having shown grit and determination with the ball. matt mc Cullough scored Ulster try with a drive over the line by the forwards, ably converted by Paddy Wallace.

At the beginning of the 2nd half, an incident occurred between Trevor Brennan while he warmed up, and the ulster fans, with Brennan alledgedly storming into the crowd and punching an Ulster fan who alledgedly spoke to him. Brennan also had water thrown over him, before he went back to the bench. Gareth Thomas also get himself involved and tried to get into the crowd, a disgraceful display by two professional sportsmen who should know better. A Toulouse official and the security guards helped to sperate the player and pull him away

Trevor Brennan punching an Ulster fan - courtesy of BBC online

Later, Trevor Brennan and Justin Harrison were shown yellow cards for fighting again instigated by Brennan. This continued after both were shown the card as they walked back towards the touchline.

Brennan and Harrison - courtesy of BBC online

The incident caused more tension in the game, and Ulster seemed to lose out, not competing as fully a s they had in the first half. On the backfoot, Toulouse came at them and scored 2 more trys before full-time, with the final touchdown from Yannick Nyanga.

Toulouse: Poitrenaud; Clerc, Jauzion, Fritz, Heymans; Du Toit, Elissalde; Human, Bru (capt), Poux, Millo-Chlusky, Albacete, Nyanga, Dusatoir, Lamboley. Replacements: Servat, Hasan, Brennan, Bouilhou, Courrent, Medard, G Thomas. Ulster: Bartholomeusz; Bowe, Trimble, Steinmetz, McKenzie; Wallace, Campbell; Young, R Best, S Best (capt); Harrison, McCullough, N Best, Dawson, Wilson. Replacements: Shields, Fitzpatrick, Barker, Ferris, Boss, Larkin, Maggs.

Referee: Tony Spreadbury (Bristol)

Mark McCall had this to say:

"The match changed in one moment, when Trevor Brennan punches Justin Harrison. We are very lucky Justin has not something seriously wrong with him," said McCall.

"Justin Harrison, like any human being would, reacts slightly, but does not do anything.

"It was a definite straight red for Brennan but the referee copped out, giving him a yellow card and giving Justin a yellow card at the same time.

"The game was 13-all at that time. In my view we lost the game in that moment.

"It is a shame because it took away our focus, but we also lost a player who did not deserve to go off the pitch.

"We will be lodging a complaint against Trevor Brennan for what he did to our player.

"As for the rugby, there was so much to be positive about because in the first half we were probably as good as we have been all year.

"If we had been more clinical we would have been 15-20 points up."