Harsh lessons as Ulster learn 'real level' of Dupont's Toulouse

It was a deflating afternoon for Ulster in Europe.

On one hand, Richie Murphy acknowledged his side were up against a "European juggernaut" in Toulouse.

But after shipping nine tries and 61 points to the reigning European champions, he also admitted it simply was not good enough for a side of Ulster's standing.

In horrendous and wet conditions at the Stade Ernest-Wallon, Toulouse overwhelmed Ulster from the first whistle on their way to running out 61-21 winners.

Their forwards dominated the breakdown, and to the surprise of absolutely no-one, Antoine Dupont was the architect of everything behind.

Murphy had handed first European starts to forwards James McCormack and James McNabney, along with centre Ben Carson, as he elected to keep the majority of his returning Irish internationals on the bench with a relatively inexperienced pack.

You could say it was a baptism of fire as they came up against a side bursting at the seams with international quality.

But, in truth, as good as Toulouse were they did not always have to work hard for their openings.

There were numerous handling errors all over the pitch and, although their scrum was solid, Ulster struggled to compete at the breakdown and line-out.

When they did look like they had worked an opportunity to build a platform, some loose kicking handed any initiative back to the hosts.

"It was a bit of both," Murphy said when asked if the result was down to Toulouse's quality or Ulster's under-par performance.

"They were very good with the ball in hand, but we also have to give them that time and space to be able to play.

"We looked a little bit at sea at times in the outside channels, which was disappointing. That is something we need to work on and something that we haven't been exposed on before now."

For Murphy, he hopes this will be a learning lesson for his young side in the long run.

This was a lesson that happened to be particularly harsh, and while three tries against Toulouse is a solid return, missing out on a try-scoring bonus-point only adds to the wounds.

"I think it will be massive for them," Murphy said of his young squad, who headed into the game with a number of injuries.

"We have quite a few guys there making their European debuts and quite a few players have less than 10 caps for Ulster.

"So to come to a place like this and play a quality outfit like Toulouse, you are learning what the real level is.

"They are European champions and they aren't going to be far away this year."

After the optimism ahead of the match, reality hit after 90 seconds when Dupont masterminded the opening Toulouse try, that was superbly finished by Lebel in the corner.

Five more tries followed in the first half, with the talismanic French scrum-half at the heart of it all.

In short, he was a joy to watch.

He saved his best moment until last. With the hosts 10 metres out after the restart, Dupont picked the ball up off the base of a ruck and, quick as a flash, sent an inch-perfect kick into the corner for Ange Capuozzo to gather and dot down for his second try of the game.

It wasn't just the accuracy of the kick, but the vision and speed to not only make it happen, but in a manner where Ulster were helpless to react.

After his moment of magic, Dupont was swiftly withdrawn and put in bubble wrap ahead of Toulouse's second game with Exeter next weekend.

"He has everything, doesn't he?", said Ulster captain Alan O'Connor.

"He has a running threat, he has a kicking threat and he is great in transition.

"He also has people around him who are a threat so he can also bring them into the game nicely."

After a day in the cold and rain, and a match that was over almost as soon as it started, the flight back to Belfast wasn't exactly full of glee.

But, as everyone was boarding, one supporter jovially proclaimed on the flight back, "Smile, it's nearly Christmas!".

Now, it's up to Ulster to show they have learnt lessons from Sunday's humbling defeat and head into the festive period on a more positive note.

It may have been a bruising opening night, but progression in Europe is still in their own hands.

Bordeaux come to Belfast for their second fixture and Ulster will have to swiftly regroup against another top-level French opponent.

As full-back Stewart Moore said, Ulster have "not got time to feel sorry for ourselves". That could be a blessing in disguise.

"Yes, we're a young side but we have to go into next week all guns blazing.

"In terms of progression, we just want to perform well. We're coming up against big French teams, English teams, and we're trying to do that every week."

There has been consistent talk of progress since Murphy took over at the start of the year, and there's a challenge to make sure the result in Toulouse was a speedbump and not a road block.