Ulster 33 Munster 17:A SEVERELY under-powered Munster turned up for their second game in four days, against a close to full-strength Ulster – their only missing personnel were fit international players Stephen Ferris, Rory Best, Andrew Trimble and Tom Court while Munster had six away with Ireland.
And all went well for the home side with the visitors crumbling up front and conceding two tries from the base of their scrum – what a horrible night it turned out to be for Duncan Williams – and then allowing Brian McLaughlin’s side bounce back from their own heavy defeat to Leinster on St Stephen’s Day, when they put out a much weakened side, to register a vitally important bonus point win.
There’s still a long way to go in the league, but this did very nicely for McLaughlin after a difficult festive week for both coaches, with McGahan’s side being put under enormous pressure up front though Ian Keatley did manage to put in a decent enough effort.
Ulster opened the scoring with an Ian Humphreys penalty on six minutes after Munster were caught offside after chasing up a Keatley Garryowen. But it was the visitors who crossed first when Keatley cross-kicked to the unmarked Luke O’Dea and the winger made it in at the right corner.
Referee Alain Rolland went upstairs to the TMO but the try was awarded and Keatley then nailed a great conversion to give Munster a 7-3 lead on 13 minutes.
Seven minutes later and a Humphreys penalty narrowed Munster’s lead before a great Darren Cave break put Stefan Terblanche into space and the ex-Springbok winger, on his first starting appearance for Ulster, slid in at the left corner.
Humphreys added a great conversion and Ulster led 13-7. A penalty which came in off the upright from Keatley narrowed Ulster’s lead but he was then wide with a 34th-minute effort.
It was over to Terblanche next and he broke into Munster’s half and then popped up again from Paddy McCallister’s pass and though the veteran South African was held, the ball was recycled and All Black World Cup winner John Afoa crashed over.
Humphreys’ conversion made it 20-10 to the home side at the break and then four minutes after the restart they scored again, this time after Munster had won a free kick from a lineout and opted for the scrum.
It was a bad idea as Ulster put in a huge shove and Willie Faloon emptied Williams, which saw the ball go loose. Humphreys then hacked it through and managed to follow it up to score to the right of the posts from just outside the 22. However, the outhalf then managed to miss the conversion and Ulster now led 25-10.
He then saw a 49th-minute penalty hit the post and stay out with a relieved Will Chambers clearing Munster’s lines. The bonus point score came five minutes later, again from a disrupted scrum, with Chris Henry this time burying Williams to allow Ruan Pienaar pick up and run in from just inside the Munster half.
Humphreys missed the difficult conversion from the left corner but Ulster now led 30-10 and looked out of sight. Humphreys then left on 70 minutes which saw Pienaar move to outhalf and he took over the kicking duties and slotted a 74th-minute effort to stretch Ulster’s lead to 33-10.
Munster’s Johne Murphy’s late score, converted by Keatley, was little consolation.
ULSTER: A D’Arcy; C Gilroy, D Cave, I Whitten, S Terblanche; I Humphreys, R Pienaar; P McAllister, A Kyriacou, J Afoa, J Muller (capt), D Tuohy, C Henry, W Faloon, P Wannenburg. Replacements: N Brady for Kyriacou (57 mins); C Black for McCallister, L Stevenson for Tuohy (both 63 mins); C Farrell for Cave (65 mins); P Marshall for Humphreys (69 mins); A Macklin for Afoa, A Birch for Faloon (both 72 mins), P Nelson for D’Arcy (74 mins).
MUNSTER: D Hurley; L O’Dea, T Gleeson, L Mafi, J Murphy; I Keatley, D Williams; W du Preez, D Varley, S Archer; I Nagle, M O’Driscoll (capt); Dave O’Callaghan, T O’Donnell, J Coughlan. Replacements: W Chambers for T Gleeson (27 mins); P Butler for O’Donnell (34 mins); D Fogarty for Varley (50 mins); T O’Leary for Williams (63 mins); S Deasy for Mafi (66 mins); M Horan for du Preez (71 mins); B Holland for Nagle, J Ryan for Archer (both 74 mins).
Referee: A Rolland (IRFU).
