The once mighty Toulouse are currently a shadow their former selves

Ulster face the French giants in the first of the two-leg Champions Cup round-of-16 tie at Stadium de Toulouse on Saturday afternoon.

Toulouse's French coach Ugo Mola is hoping for a change of fortunes in Europe and domestically in the coming weeks.

That hoary sporting cliche “must-win game” has not been associated with Toulouse in recent seasons - with good reason - but it can justifiably be dusted off for Saturday’s two-leg Champions Cup round-of-16 tie against Ulster at Stadium de Toulouse.

Whisper it quietly, but the defending European champions are beatable. And not just because they lost a typical arm-wrestle of a derby at a windblown Castres last weekend.