Ireland's interest in this season's Champions Cup was ended this afternoon as Stade Francais recorded the bonus-point win they needed with a 36-21 win against Leicester in Paris.
With Leinster and Munster already eliminated entering the final weekend of games, Ulster were the only province with the chance to reach the quarter-finals, and held up their end of the bargain with a massive 56-3 victory over Oyonnax yesterday.
That lifted Les Kiss' side into one of the three pool runners-up qualifying spots, but Wasps, Toulon and Northampton all got the victories they need to move back in front of Ulster.
That left the 1999 champions hanging on to a precarious hold on the final place in the knockout stage, and hopes were raised when Leicester took an early lead, but Stade hit back quickly and when they scored their fourth try in the 53rd minute it signalled the end of Ulster's hopes.
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Fans were understandably disappointed, with many pointing the finger at the dismal first-half display against Oyonnax, in which they trailed by 23 points at the interval and left themselves too much to do to claim the bonus point they required.
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The result also means Ireland will be without a quarter-finalist in the top competition for the first time in nearly 20 years, and leaves Connacht, whose weekend victory over Enisei saw them through to a Challenge Cup knockout tie against Grenoble, managed by former Connacht player Bernard Jackman, as the lone Irish flagbearers on the continent.
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While Leinster finished up their campaign with a record 51-10 defeat at the hands of Wasps, Munster did at least end on a winning note, with two tries from Ronan O'Mahony helping them to a 28-5 victory over Treviso in Italy.
