Clermont centre Aurelien Rougerie spots a gap © Getty Images

Enlarge

Related Links

Matches: Clermont Auvergne 19 - 15 Ulster

Tournaments/Tours: Heineken Cup

Teams: Clermont Auvergne | France | Ireland | Ulster

Ulster boss Brian McLaughlin could not contain his disappointment at missed opportunities after his side ran Clermont Auvergne close on their way to qualifying for the Heineken Cup quarter-finals.

Ruan Pienaar's four penalties had put Ulster 12-9 ahead in France but replacement Ti'i Paulo's try in the final quarter saw the home side run out 19-15 winners, maintaining their long-standing home record.

The result meant Clermont and Ulster finished level on 20 points at the top of Pool 4, but Paulo's score proved crucial as it saw the 2010 French champions finish ahead by virtue of a better head-to-head record in the games between the two sides.

The visitors still progress as one of the best runners-up but McLaughlin was disappointed to see his side narrowly miss out on topping the pool.

"We came here wanting to get a home quarter-final for our fans and I think that's why we're exceptionally disappointed because we felt in the first half we maybe had a couple of opportunities," McLaughlin said.

"We missed a couple of penalties - difficult as they were - but we had a couple of try-scoring opportunities which we left out there. When you're playing in a competition like this - exciting as it is and a brilliant competition - you just can't afford to do that."

McLaughlin said Ulster can take a lot of confidence from their performance against Clermont, which followed up an impressive win over Leicester last weekend.

"What we wanted to do was back up last week, to show that we are proper contenders in this competition," he said. "Now what we've got to do, no matter where we go in the last eight, we've got to turn in another performance. But it's got to better again because we are more than capable of going further in this competition."

Clermont Auvergne boss Vern Cotter was relieved his team had lived to fight another day in the Heineken Cup.

"We're very happy because it was a tough game. They gave us a run we expected to get from them," he said."They're very strong up front and it took us a wee while to get our hands on the ball.

"It wasn't until the second half that we got into their end of the paddock, got our hands on the ball and we could actually get the game going the way that we wanted to."