Ulster face trial in Toulon today

European Champions Cup Pool 3

As he experiences the plunging temperatures of his first winter in Ulster since arriving from South Africa, Franco van der Merwe would have envisaged a better scenario for this weekend’s trip to Toulon, but the lock has warned his side still need to give their all in tomorrow’s virtual dead rubber.

Three defeats in four games have shattered Ulster’s European hopes, but Van der Merwe knows that back-to-back champions Toulon have the capacity to add insult to injury in the south of France if Ulster do not arrive in the right frame of mind.