Ulster's record defeat in European Challenge Cup final providing fuel for winger Robert Baloucoune ahead of Zebre trip

Ulster beat the Ospreys, La Rochelle and Exeter Chiefs in the knockout stages to reach the final in Bilbao before slumping to a 59-26 loss.

Richie Murphy’s side have missed out on Champions Cup qualification for a second consecutive season, but Baloucoune – a try-scorer in the Challenge Cup final – wants to go all the way and lift the trophy.

“I think you've got to go out not to lose any game, we're going out to win every game that we can – you're not trying less than in any other game,” Baloucoune said.

“It's just a different competition up against different teams – I would go into every game with that intention.

“Last season it was huge, we kind of set out with the intention to win that [competition].

“It [final] was definitely tough conditions, tough game, but it was definitely good. I suppose at the end of that final whistle, the amount of effort you put in throughout the season, some of the results we got along the way as well and getting to the final and stuff, it was a tough one to take.

"But I suppose we showed throughout the season what we can do and I suppose we're just trying to build on to that now for this season.

“There's obviously a lot of stuff that we need to fix and it's been a tough enough start for us, but we know what we can do,” he added.

“I suppose in attack, it's just improving our whole game management as well, so just seeing out games.”

Ulster go to Italy looking for their first win of the season on Saturday after a disappointing home draw with Munster, but Baloucoune feels there are quick fixes.

“We left ourselves with a lot to deal with in the second half,” he said.

“It wasn't a good enough start; we gave them way too many points in that first half. We were just trying to climb back into the game.

“It was obviously disappointing not to win at home. That [target] was set from the get-go at the start of the week. We didn't do that in the end.

“We've looked back yesterday and today on bits and pieces that we can do: looking after the ball and not giving them access to teams. That's something that we'll be bringing into the weekend.

“I suppose whenever you are chasing the game, you have probably more of a freedom to play more sporadically and play on top.

“If you lose the first couple of battles and you already find yourself on the back foot, it makes it a lot harder to get into the game. We did that back-to-back,” said Baloucoune.

“We know we can score bonus points. We know how well we can play when we do. It's just being able to turn that on, be proactive and be able to bring that into the start of the game. Hopefully that will show in the results.”