Toulouse 36

Ulster 8

CHESLIN KOLBE SCORED a brace for Toulouse in their 36-8 Champions Cup quarter-final win over Ulster, with Dan McFarland’s men bowing out of Europe after being well beaten.

The absence of Marcell Coetzee and early injuries were damaging for Ulster, who had opted for a 6/2 bench split, but they were a clear second best as Toulouse opened up in the second half. 

It marks a disappointing end to the 2019/20 campaign for Ulster, who were beaten by Leinster in last weekend’s Pro14 final.

South African World Cup-winning wing Cheslin Kolbe dotted down twice for the hosts, opening the scoring after just three minutes.

However, with Thomas Ramos struggling with his kicking, Toulouse were unable to break down the obdurate Ulster defence for much of the first half.

Kolbe, though, touched down for his second just before the break — a killer score for Ulster to concede — and second-half tries from Antoine Dupont, Pita Ahki and Ramos closed out what transpired to be a comfortable win.

John Cooney added a late consolation try for Ulster.

It is the 11th time that four-time champions Toulouse have reached this stage of European rugby’s top competition.

Toulouse advance into next weekend’s Champions Cup semi-finals, where they will face either Exeter Chiefs or Northampton, with the English clubs’ quarter-final kicking off at 5.30pm this evening.