Toulouse scrum-half Luke Burgess is wrapped by Connacht's Michael Swift © Getty Images

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Matches: Toulouse 24 - 3 Connacht

Tournaments/Tours: Heineken Cup

Teams: Connacht | Toulouse

Toulouse captain Thierry Dusautoir was not surprised by how well Connacht battled throughout the Heineken Cup clash between the two at the Stade Ernest Wallon.

The French side had to call on all their reserves to secure a 24-3 win that leaves them at the top of Pool 6.

"Apart from us, no-one had got a bonus point against Connacht so we knew it was going to be really difficult to get the bonus point today," he admitted afterwards. "We had a little bit of pressure when we really needed it, but we are really happy with it.

"They are a good team. It is their first time in the Heineken Cup and they play great rugby and we are just happy to have the win. The tempo of their play is quite different to Munster or Leinster but when you lose the ball you know they are going to attack you and try and score.

"So you need to be very focused on your rucks. It was hard to win today but it was a nice game for the supporters to watch."

Niall O'Connor kicked Connacht ahead with an early penalty, but tries from Timoci Matanavou, Maxime Medard and Louis Picamoles ensured a five-point return for Guy Noves' side.

Connacht head coach Eric Elwood said that while their losing run - now at 14 games - continues, he got a lot of encouragement from the display and feels they can build on it for their final pool match at home to Harlequins next weekend.

"It would be great to finish our first season in the Heineken Cup with a win and we will take a lot of encouragement from this game into that match against Harlequins," he said. "We are happy with the performance. It was important to mentally understand how important this game was. It wasn't just another game. I think the lads in fairness prepared very well, they were mentally prepared for this game.

"And at half time at 10-3 we were in a good game here, and they knew they were. Okay it finished off 24-3 but maybe that wasn't a scoreline that a lot of people would have expected. But the effort was excellent, the performance was excellent and some of our defensive work was excellent."

The former Ireland outside-half is hoping that some of his injured players will return next week and is targeting a win in Galway next Friday.

"This was a good performance and I am proud of the effort. Unfortunately we didn't get the win but I'm glad that the large numbers who travelled had something to cheer about and hopefully they will have more in Galway next weekend when we take on Harlequins," he added.