On Monday the squad were brought to the PSNI's public order training unit in Steeple, County Antrim, as a diversion from their normal routine, with the players donning riot gear as a full scale riot was simulated in front of them. Their job on the day was to defuse the situation with the help of their batons and a water cannon, and while we were unable to confirm whether or not the squad's defensive alignment was up to scratch as they faced down the rioters, Simon Best's reaction to the tough, physically demanding and mentally exerting police exercise spoke volumes for the mood amongst the players:

"It was something to lighten the spirits after the weekend."

If facing down a full scale riot succeeds in lightening the mood around Ravenhill, then things must be worse than we think but in some ways the province's bout of depression is completely understandable.

They started this season's Heineken Cup full of beans, despite the exacting nature of the pool they'd been drawn in, talking of breaking their hoodoo away from home and progressing to the knock-out stages of the competition for the first time since they won it back in 1999.

Their thumping of Toulouse on the competition's opening weekend gave their initial pronouncements some substance, but since then Mark McCall's side have fallen back on old habits.

In their away defeats to London Irish and Llanelli, and last week's home defeat to the on-form Welsh outfit, Ulster displayed a puzzling deficiency in on-field management, or to phrase it another way, in-game cuteness. In the defeat against London Irish in Reading, a couple of sin-binnings saw them play against 13 men for a good eight minutes either side of half-time, yet on two separate occasions during that period they kicked possession away when they simply needed to hold on to it and expose the opposition's lack of numbers.

Last weekend they showed a similar naivety against Llanelli on their home patch.

With the result still up for decision at the start of the second period, Ulster simply needed to pick and drive their way through the half but instead they over-complicated matters. The handling errors from Neil Best and Kevin Maggs, which both cost tries, came as a direct result of this.

Following last week's record home defeat in Europe, McCall immediately announced that he and his management team would be initiating an enquiry into the province's failure to qualify for the last eight for the, ah, eight season in a row.

"It was a disappointing campaign and we have got to sit down and take some time to take stock of what's occurred and find out the reasons why, " he said.

"We all knew we were in a difficult group, but at the same time the performance at London Irish and losing at home to the Scarlets was something that shouldn't happen to us. What we have got to do is take a look at why that occurred and come back stronger."

There'll hardly have been the time for any of those reflections to be mirrored in their performance at the Stade Ernest Wallon this afternoon, and it could prove a difficult outing. Toulouse have been well below par this season, not least in their shocking loss at Ravenhill back in October, but at home, with no pressure on their shoulders, they'll be keen to give their home crowd something to salivate about.

You wouldn't be one bit surprised they accounted for the visitors by 25 points or more.

TOULOUSE C Poitrenaud; V Clerc, Y Jauzion, F Fritz, C Heymans; G du Toit, J Elissalde; D Human, Y Bru (c), J Poux, R Millo-Chlusky, P Albacete, Y Nyanga, T Dusatoir, G Lamboley ULSTER M Bartholomeusz; T Bowe, A Trimble, P Steinmetz, P McKenzie; P Wallace, K Campbell; B Young, R Best, S Best (c), J Harrison, M McCullough, N Best, K Dawson, R Wilson