It felt like we had been flung back two years into the past as Ulster and La Rochelle took to the Aviva, completely devoid of a crowd save for an “official delegation” from La Rochelle.
The decision to move the game from Belfast to Dublin was contentious at best. The freezing of Ravenhill not only cost Ulster a critical home advantage against the European champions, but by Jonny Petrie’s estimation, will cost the organisation itself roughly £700,000.
Understandably, waves of frustration crashed over social media from Ulster supporters at EPCR’s handling of the fixture, compounded by the aforementioned travelling party and the fact that the Kingspan pitch appeared playable on Saturday morning.
But the game itself was, well, hard to digest. By half-time Ulster were behind 29-points to nil - an eerie and miserable repeat of Sale’s 39-0 drubbing of them a week before.
However, in the second-half, the qualities that make Ulster one of the URC’s most eminent attacking sides seemed to reappear out of thin air.
It’s a 40 minute showing that has the potential to reinvigorate a mentality which Leinster seemingly broke two weekends ago.
Ulster can head back to the URC with their enthusiasm reinstalled after getting the better of the reigning Champions Cup holders in the second half. Or can they?
To discuss and dissect all of the above, I’m joined by Nathan Johns, Caolan Scully and Nigel Quigley.