Even though Glenn Ross had stressed the need for self-discipline no matter the provocation prior to Connacht's European Shield game in Toulon on Saturday night, a long and unseemly punch-up around the half-hour mark proved a turning point.
Connacht had legally met aggression with aggression until that point, at which stage they were level at 9-9 after Eric Elwood had traded three penalties with Toulon's Kiwi full-back Warren Burton.
But once the Connacht prop Martin Cahill and the Toulon centre David Douy had been yellow-carded by English referee Stephen Hughes following the fracas, the home crowd and their team upped the noise levels and the tempo of the game.
Toulon's inspirational scrumhalf, Pierre Mignoni, a member of France's World Cup squad, scored the opening try soon after, and Burton's boot extended the lead to 19-9 by the interval. After a further exchange of penalties, Elwood missed a kickable opportunity to cut the deficit to four points at 22-15, and from there on Toulon ran in three more tries for a victory which extinguishes Connacht's slim hopes of advancing to the knock-out stages.
In the other match in Connacht's group, scrum-half Richard Smith inspired buoyant Ebbw Vale to their fourth successive victory. Smith, the former Newport and Sale insidehalf, bagged a hat-trick of tries as the Welsh side beat Steaua Bucharest 43-27.
Scoring sequence: 6 mins Elwood pen 0-3; 8: Burton pen 3-3; 10: Burton pen 6-3; 11: Elwood pen 6-6; 13: Elwood pen 6-9; 23: Burton pen 9-9; 32: Mignoni try, Burton con 16-9; 36: Burton pen 19-9; 45: Elwood pen 19-12; 49: Burton pen 22-12; 58: Elwood pen 22-15; 68: G Delmotte try, Burton con 29-15; 75: P Salacroux try, Burton con 36-15; 82: M Macurdy try 41-15.
TOULON: W Burton; P Salacroux, D Douy, G Delmotte, G Gironella; L Guetard, P Mignoni; P Fitzgerald, N Curnier, C Rivier, S Franchini, M Macurdy, G le Corvec, F Chouquet, R Jechous. Replacements: A Galasso for Rivier (50 mins), E Dasalmartini for Fitzgerald (57 mins), L Emmanuelli for Curnier (57 mins), T Louvet for le Corvec (65 mins).
CONNACHT: S Allnutt; M Mostyn, M Deane, M Murphy, P Duignan; E Elwood, S McIvor; J Screene, B Jackman, M Cahill, G Webster, M McConnell, U O'Callaghan, M Steffert, I Dillon. Replacements: J Maher for Screene (47 mins), C Rigney for Webster (57 mins), E Brennan for Dillon (68 mins). C Kilroy for Allnutt (76 mins).
Referee: S Hughes (England).
London Irish remain on the coat-tails of Pool Seven leaders Agen after an impressive 39-13 victory over Roma. Irish fullback Conor O'Shea was the star for Irish, scoring a brace of tries. Agen, meanwhile, won 28-13 away at former European champions Brive.
Even a below strength Irish side were far too strong for a Roma team that contained only five full-time players. The Exiles, 46-7 winners in Rome a week earlier, scored six tries to one.
