Investec Champions Cup - Ulster 24-48 Toulouse: Antoine Dupont scores twice in dominant win

Antoine Dupont scored two of Toulouse's six tries as the French side put on a classy show in Belfast

Antoine Dupont scored two tries as Toulouse claimed a bonus-point win to dent Ulster's hopes of reaching the Investec Champions Cup knockout rounds.

Dupont, Matthis Lebel and Peato Mauvaka all crossed for the five-time champions in the first half.

Tom Stewart offered Ulster a lifeline with a first-half touchdown but Dupont, Mauvaka, Alexandre Roumat and Emmanuel Meafou notched further Toulouse tries.

The result leaves Ulster fourth in Pool 2 with one game remaining.

A second defeat in three games, coupled with Harlequins' win over Cardiff, leaves the Irish province in a precarious position with Racing able to knock them down to fifth if the French side beat Bath on Sunday.

Having been outplayed by a hugely impressive Toulouse unit, Ulster must regroup quickly and produce a vastly improved performance at Harlequins next week in order to salvage their European campaign.

Toulouse, meanwhile, are assured of a place in the last 16 with a game to spare after three successive bonus-point wins as they search for a sixth title and first since 2021.

Ulster outclassed in first half

Ulster came into the game on the back of their best run of the season with wins over another French giant in Racing and interprovincial rivals Connacht and Leinster.

The hosts' confidence soon dissipated, however, as Toulouse put on a show for a sold-out Kingspan Stadium, with a collector's item-worthy Dupont knock-on the only blemish in a slick, muscular first-half team display.

The first real wave from the men in red ended with a try, Lebel touching down in the corner after being picked out by the magnificent Thomas Ramos.

John Cooney responded for Ulster with a penalty, but with the home side rattled, Toulouse took control of the first half and converted a penalty of their own before Mauvaka burrowed his way over for their second on the half-hour mark.

Toulouse weren't done there. From the restart, the French side scythed through the Ulster defence with Mauvaka turning provider for France captain Dupont after a brilliant catch and surge forward by back row Anthony Jelonch.

With Toulouse threatening to pull away, Ulster needed a score before the break. They got one through prolific try-scoring hooker Stewart, whose clever sidestep fashioned a try and a lifeline for his side at the end of a first half in which they often had no answer to the power and variation in Toulouse's game.

Ulster must regroup quickly ahead of next week's must-win final Pool 2 match at Harlequins

Stewart's intervention failed to spark an Ulster comeback, though, as Toulouse put the result beyond doubt early in the second half.

First, Dupont gleefully accepted his second try of the night after a turnover allowed Scotland full-back Blair Kinghorn to scamper free and offload to his captain.

With Dupont purring, Ulster simply couldn't cope with the scrum-half, who provided a reminder of what the Six Nations will miss by creating his side's next two tries, with Mauvaka and Roumat benefiting.

Refusing to lie down and with nothing to lose, however, Ulster opted to aggressively attack the considerable deficit facing them.

But while their hopes of consolatory bonus points were boosted thanks to well-worked tries from replacement full-back Will Addison and back row Nick Timoney, they were unable to carve out a fourth, with Toulouse having the last say in injury-time as Meafou charged over for the French side's seventh.

Line-ups

Ulster: Lowry; Baloucoune; Hume, McCloskey; Stockdale; Burns, Cooney; Kitshoff, Stewart, O'Toole, Treadwell, Henderson (capt), Ewers, Reffell, Timoney.

Replacements: Andrew, Warwick, Moore, O'Connor, Matty Rea, Doak, Marshall, Addison.

Toulouse: Kinghorn; Mallia; Delibes, Ahki; Lebel; Ramos, Dupont (capt); Baille, Mauvaka, Aldegheri; Arnold, Meafou; Cros, Jelonch, Roumat.

Replacements: Marchand, Ainu'u, Laulala, Brennan, Willis, Graou, Chocobares, Bituniyata.

Referee: Matthew Carley (Eng)