Awkward.

Ulster secured a spot in next season’s Champions Cup on Sunday with an impressive win over a poor Ospreys side at the Kingspan Stadium.

But all the talk in the build-up to the game last week surrounded outgoing head coach Jono Gibbes and a certain trip to France. Yesterday’s game was Gibbes’ last with Ulster, with the Kiwi set to return home for “family reasons” and take up a role with Mitre 10 Cup side Waikato. Or is he?

Gibbes visited La Rochelle’s headquarters on Thursday with reports suggesting he was there to discuss the possibility of succeeding their former head coach Patrice Collazo.

His visit annoyed a lot of Ulster fans for a number or reasons. For one it goes completely against his returning home for “family reasons”, and secondly the timing was pretty poor considering just how big Sunday’s game was.

Speaking before the game, former Ulster flanker Stephen Ferris said it was “crazy” that Gibbes went for the supposed interview and said he had “some nerve”.

“It’s crazy, Jono Gibbes has some nerve,” Ferris said on BBC Northern Ireland’s coverage.

“The big week that it is, Ospreys in a do or die game. I just can’t get my head around it. Whether or not he takes that job in La Rochelle, for me, it doesn’t matter. It is the way he went about it, leaving midweek.”

After the game Gibbes was asked about his next destination in an interview that everyone is talking about. In it he does not deny a potential move back to France, and eventually ends it abruptly when he’s asked if  he’s leaving Ulster with “sour taste” in their relationship.

Have a watch for yourself below.