ULSTER Rugby will be competing in the Champions Cup last-16 thanks to Bordeaux’s thrashing of the Sharks.
Richie Murphy’s side only won a single game from their four Pool 1 fixtures.
That victory came at home to Exeter on Friday night in Belfast as the hosts romped to a 52-24 scoreline.
And with Bordeaux Begles’ emphatic victory over the Cell C Sharks in the final European Champions Cup Pool 1 clash on Sunday, it means that the Northerners were handed a unexpected lifeline.
The Top 14 side’s win now sets up a tough round-of-16 tie for Ulster against the tournament’s top seeds.
Richie Murphy’s men will now face Bordeaux at Stade Chaban Delmas on the weekend of April 4-6.
Ulster needed Bordeaux to deliver a decisive victory over the Sharks, with a margin of more than 28 points.
It also required the South African side to get no losing bonus-point in the clash – and that’s what happened.
At halftime Bordeaux led by just seven points but the French side thumped in 47 unanswered points to claim an stunning 66-12 win as the Sharks were eliminated from the tournament.
The result means South Africa will have no teams in the Champions Cup knockout stages.
Elsewhere, Bath Boss Johann Van Grann has hailed Leinster star RG Snyman after the lock bagged a brace in his side’s Champions Cup win in Dublin.
The Blues came from behind after the break to produce a dominant seven-try performance that saw them defeat Bath 47-21 at the Aviva Stadium in front of over 40,000 fans.
Speaking after his sides defeat, he said: “You all know how highly I rate him [Snyman] as a player.
“Somebody that I signed at Munster and he’s now at Leinster and I thought he was phenomenal.
“The two of us come back a long way from when I started coaching him at school. He’s got this ability to get the ball away.
“He’s got incredible hands and a natural feeling for the game. Not to speak about his size and his hitting and his poaching and his line-out. But he kind of makes something happen out of nothing.
“He pulls three, four, five defenders in around him and I thought he was on fire tonight.
“That’s why I believe he’s one of the best players in the world.”