On a night when personal rivalries were under scrutiny, Ulster won the individual and collective battles against Munster to stretch their unbeaten home record at Kingspan Stadium to 19 games.

Joe Schmidt will pore over the performances of Ireland’s provinces before finalising his squad to face Wales on Friday week, and Jared Payne’s comeback from injury will be of particular interest.

Leinster defence coach Kurt McQuilkin insists Ulster are the “screaming-hot favourites” coming into Friday’s sell-out Guinness Pro12 semi-final at the RDS.