McLaughlin looks at the positives
Brian McLaughlin was "exceptionally proud" of his Ulster side after they qualified for the Heineken Cup quarter-finals and came within minutes of ending Clermont Auvergne's long-standing unbeaten home record today.
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.
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 of Ulster by virtue of a better head-to-head record in the games between the two sides.
The visitors still progress as one the best runners-up but McLaughlin was disappointed to see his side narrowly miss out on topping the pool.
The Ulster head coach said: "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.
"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."
However, 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.
"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.
He said: "We're very happy because It was a tough game. They gave us a run we expected to get from them.
"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."
Clermont have not lost at home since November 2009 but had to draw on all their resources to reach the last eight for the first time since 2010.
Cotter added: "I think what brought us through today was our desire to take part in these last three games of the Heineken Cup. Every game we play at this level helps us to get better."
