Ulster skipper Alan O'Connor: 'I thought I'd cry' after Connacht loss

Ulster captain Alan O'Connor felt apologies were in order when he gathered his beaten team-mates in the dressing room at the Kingspan Stadium on Friday night.

Heavy favourites coming in the BKT URC quarter-final, Dan McFarland’s men crashed out after a 15-10 loss to Connacht.

It wasn’t supposed to end like this.

The match-day programme paid tribute to 10 departing players, who will make their home elsewhere next season, and a signing and selfie session was arranged for the fans.

Rob Herring was equalling the all-time Ulster appearance record of 229, alongside Andrew Trimble and Darren Cave; Jacob Stockdale led the team out with his daughter in arm as he won his 100th provincial cap.

Never before beaten at home in a knockout game, Ulster, who finished second in the table behind Leinster, fully expected to be here next week.

But Connacht came to spoil the party and Duane Vermeulen, Sam Carter, Jordi Murphy, Craig Gilroy, Gareth Milasinovich, Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, Rory Sutherland, and a handful of other squad members, had to sign off and wave goodbye to the Ravenhill faithful off the back of a painful defeat.

O’Connor, whose Ulster side won just one of five Champions Cup matches this season, described the scene in the devastated changing room.

"I didn't want to speak about the rugby because I thought I'd cry, which is the way it is," said the Dubliner, who was making his 178th appearance for the Belfast-based club.

"I thanked all the guys who are leaving, all the guys retiring or moving on, the guys with World Cup aspirations, I just thanked them and wished them all the best.

"Our whole season was for this game. Every game you play is to get into the knock-out stages and we did enough to get into second.

"We knew what was at stake if