Dominguez strikes final nail in coffin of lacklustre Ulster

IT’S rolling towards five years since Ulster became the first and only Irish side to win the European Cup. They haven’t been back since, in fact they haven’t even managed to negotiate the pool stage of the competition since David Humphreys lifted the trophy at Lansdowne Road in 1999.

On Saturday, Ulster needed to win at Stade Jean Bouin to retain any realistic chance of progressing to the business end of the tournament and, while eventually beaten by a 67-minute penalty by out-half Diego Dominguez, they never really looked like disrupting an off-colour French side.

Ulster’s defence was outstanding all afternoon and, around the fringes, the likes of Roger Wilson, Neil McMillan and Andy Ward thrived, but, Humphreys’ fortuitous first half try aside, Ulster never really put the home defence under any pressure on the front foot.