Never can anyone have issued a more telling declaration of European intent. With Leinster eliminated from the last eight and Munster in danger of joining them, Ulster's five tries in Belfast and three more on foreign soil in the return have gone some way towards banishing the spectre of no Irish provinces in the quarter-finals for the first time in nearly 20 years.
That they did it without a quartet of injured Ireland internationals - Iain Henderson, Tommy Bowe, Jared Payne and Darren Cave - made their success all the more overwhelming.
It may be invidious to single anyone out but Andrew Trimble merits special mention for the exhilarating quality of his try in Belfast and the excellence of his finish for the eminently missable second in Toulouse. In doing so, Trimble has propelled himself into the top ten list of all-time European Cup try scorers with 24, twelve behind Vincent Clerc of Toulouse.
Now Ulster revert to domestic issues and the resumption of the GUINNESS PRO12 for the most frenetic period of the season, one festive round of derby matches over the Christmas weekend followed by another over the New Year - 12 all-Irish, all-Italian, all-Scottish and all-Welsh affairs.
It starts on Boxing Day when Ulster will be Connacht's problem in Galway. The hosts are the only team in the Pro12 to have scored at least one try in every match this season, averaging three in all competitions.
Nobody has beaten them at home since the Ospreys at the end of last season. Preserving that record for the advent of another year could put Connacht ten points clear of their northern rivals. Conversely, an Ulster win could cut the gap between the two from six points to two, perhaps one which underlines how much is at stake.
The derby season kicks off on Boxing Day afternoon, appropriately, with the most local one of all. The Scarlets, proudly perched at the top of the heap one point above Connacht, receive the neighbouring Ospreys before a packed Parc y Scarlets.
It is the latest re-enactment of a tribal affair like no other, even when measured by the ferocity of rivalries within the Welsh rugby belt, an area that stretches some 60 miles across the southern tip of the country.
In Welsh folklore, there is nothing to compare with annual collisions between the 'Turks' of Llanelli and the Swansea 'Jacks', a tradition maintained since the creation of the four regional teams in 2003.
The visitors make the twelve-mile journey from Swansea to Llanelli all too aware that nothing less than a win will suffice if they are to make up ground lost when their headline acts - Alun-Wyn Jones, Dan Biggar, Justin Tipuric - were otherwise engaged at the World Cup.
They may have short-changed themselves in Bordeaux but the result showed how the Ospreys have turned the tricky matter of squeezing the maximum two bonus points out of narrow defeats in France into a Welsh speciality.
In doing so, they are two points clear at the top of their intensely competitive pool in the Champions' Cup with colossal ties against Clermont in Swansea and the Chiefs in Exeter looming next month. For now the Ospreys head to what the Scarlets proclaim as 'heart and soul rugby country' eager to rearrange the top of the table.
Sunday brings four more derbies. Newport Gwent Dragons stage the most localised one, against the Blues from Cardiff at Rodney Parade where Lyn Jones' team have lost just once all season, to Ulster early last month.
While the Dragons are on track to qualify for the finals of the Challenge Cup on the strength of back-to-back wins over Pau, the Blues have shown signs of recovering under head coach Danny Wilson from a tough start involving a surfeit of away matches.
Edinburgh are one win away from clambering into the play-off zone. That they could get there at the expense of the defending champions adds still more spice swirling around the Warriors' appearance at BT Murrayfield. Almost 16,000 turned up for the last 1872 Cup fixture between the two at the start of the year when two tries from Tim Visser and four goals from Sam Hidalgo-Clyne gave Edinburgh the perfect Hogmanay.
Scotland's capital team will aim for more of the same on the pitch and even more off it to ensure another bumper occasion before venturing to Scotstoun seven days later. Last season's aggregate score emphasised the intensity of the Pro12 competition for the prized top-four finish - Edinburgh 26, Warriors 24.
As usual, the biggest crowd of the weekend will be expected at Thomond Park. For all their shared recent troubles in Europe, Munster and Leinster generate a rare old passion, a clattering sound of silverware which can only be made by provincial teams who have won Europe's glittering prize five times between them.
Zebre, beaten narrowly home and away by Benetton Treviso last season, will start their attempt to even up the score on Sunday with home advantage. Treviso will not need to be reminded that they have not won on the road since six goals from Jayden Hayward in between tries from Fijian scrum-half Henry Seniloli and Italy flanker Francesco Minto carried them home in Parma this time last year, 26-16.
That Zebre have been busy making a mark in Europe with wins over Worcester and La Rochelle may prove to be more relevant. A win would strengthen Zebre's bid to replace their compatriots as Italy's sole qualifiers for the Champions' Cup next season.
Aggregate attendances for derby matches last season:
Boxing Day weekend: 80,714.
Highest: 25,600 (Munster v Leinster), 17,107 (Ulster v Connacht)
Average: 13,453
New Year weekend: 67,472.
Highest: 18,200 (Leinster v Ulster), 15,810 (Edinburgh v Glasgow)
Average: 11,245
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