Iain Henderson says no finger of blame will be pointed at Tom O’Toole after the prop’s red card helped tip the balance of Saturday night’s Champions Cup tie in Toulouse’s favour.
O’Toole was given his marching orders in the 65th minute - just three minutes after his introduction - for a ‘shoulder to head’ tackle on man of the match Anthony Jelonch.
Ulster were trailing 20-23 on the night but leading 46-43 on aggregate when referee Matthew Carley reached for his pocket to send off the 23-year-old following a TMO check.
Read more: Ulster suffer agonising defeat to Toulouse in Champions Cup
And while John Cooney extended the province’s advantage with a penalty three minutes later, Antoine Dupont’s late try saw Toulouse seal a narrow 50-49 aggregate win.
It would be the five-time European champions - and not Ulster - who would progress to the quarter-finals and a mouth watering home tie with Munster.
O’Toole cut a forlorn figure on the sidelines on the final whistle, but Henderson insisted Ulster would take collective blame for their agonising defeat over two legs.
He said: "Tom will be devastated and he’s the type of character (where) that will really affect him and he’ll be down about it.
“But it’s also everyone else who may feel they impacted or had some role in the loss.
“I have full confidence that everyone will get around.. be it Tom or anyone else in the squad who is feeling down over the next week.
“Duane (Vermeulen) had a good chat with us after the game and he said some guys will get over it in 15 minutes and for some guys it will take a week or longer.
“Everyone is different. Some guys will forget about it and come in bouncing on Monday morning. Some will go out and have a few beers tonight and get over it that way.
“Some will immediately go back home and sit and watch the game. We chatted about it and we have to rally around each other and make sure everyone is supporting each other.”
Ulster held a six point advantage heading into Saturday night’s return leg at a packed Kingspan Stadium following last week’s 26-20 win in France.
Ethan McIlroy touched down for two tries on the night, but Toulouse stayed in touch with a Thomas Ramos try and a Romain Ntmack intercept from inside his own half.
Both scores were preventable. Ntamack broke Ulster's defensive line for Ramos’ try and he also picked off a John Cooney pass to race clear from just outside his own 22.
“We talked about cutting out those breakaway tries and we know Toulouse have striking power from anywhere on the pitch,” said Henderson.
“It’s frustrating for us. We tried to build pressure and not let them get those easy tries, but they managed to get a few of them (over both legs).”
With five minutes left and Ulster down to 14 men, the reigning champions pounced for their clinching score, Dupont scrambling over from close range.
Ramos, who ended a dramatic night with 22 of his team’s 30 points, converted to help seal a 30-23 win on the night and 50-49 victory on aggregate.
After exiting Europe in heartbreaking fashion, Henderson is determined Ulster finish strongly in the United Rugby Championship.
Dan McFarland’s men are next in league action on Friday night when they welcome Interpro rivals Munster to the Kingspan before travelling to Edinburgh the following weekend.
“There'll be a huge emphasis on the next two games which will probably be instrumental in how we finish the season,” said Henderson.
“We have to show ourselves, the staff and everyone else that we are able to bounce back and put in a good performance off the back of an emotional loss.”
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