The winger’s three tries ensured Ulster take a six-point advantage into Saturday’s second leg, while he also shone with some impressive defensive work.

Remarkably, Baloucoune could even have scored four tries, but was denied by a last-ditch tackle from Antoine Dupont.

Baloucoune said: “I really can’t take credit for all the tries.

“It was good work from the whole team and that is something that we had worked on all week, trying to move the ball to the width.

“It was nice to get a few run-ins. There was space for me and I had a few runs, but to be fair to Toulouse they played well and still put the pressure on us.”

Defending champions Toulouse had to play with 14 men for 70 minutes after Mallia was red-carded for a dangerous tackle, but pushed Ulster hard throughout.

Baloucoune said: “It was still a really tough game (despite the early red card) and that showed at the end where there were a lot of boys cramping and as the game ended a lot of boys just falling down.

“That showed the intensity of the game.”

Despite Toulouse’s star-studded line-up, Baloucoune said Ulster had remained confident of their own ability.

He said: “We talked about Dupont and Ntamack and their world class players, but we always said we had the same ability, and we knew what we could do on our side of the game, and that showed in the match. They had their stints and so did we.”

Baloucoune’s defence, which included an early try-saving tackle on Thomas Ramos, earned the praise of head coach Dan McFarland.

He said: “How good was his defence? How good was that?

“Some of the plays there I’m watching him and his timing, his understanding of when he has to go, his double efforts, he’s literally covering everything. I thought he was excellent.

“In terms of finishing, he’s got what every winger wants which is top end speed. That’s different from other people.

“When set free you’ve seen it repeatedly how he does.

“But he’s a superb player, tremendous athlete and a really good rugby professional.”

Hat-trick hero Robert Baloucoune was quick to praise his teammates after firing Ulster Rugby to a 26-20 victory at Stade Toulousain in the Heineken Champions Cup Round of 16.