Munster keep their momentum going with win in Ulster
United Rugby Championship, Kingspan Stadium, Belfast 22/4/2022 Ulster vs Munster. Munster's Keith Earls on his way to scoring a try
It’s not so long ago since Munster’s season seemed to be stuttering to a standstill. Too many coaches making for the exit, no-one passing them in the opposite direction as weeks turned to months. When Leinster strolled in and out of Limerick at the start of the month with a straightforward URC win things looked pretty bleak.
Skip ahead just a handful of weeks and Graham Rowntree has been anointed as the man who will be king, Exeter have been beaten over two absorbing round of 16 Heineken Champions Cup ties and now a major step has been taken towards the business end of the URC campaign.
This win sees Johann van Graan’s side shoot up to third in the table, just ahead of the side they saw off here, and it leaves them contemplating the prospect of a home quarter-final berth rather than peering over their shoulders at the chasing pack with two games left to play.
A fine night’s work.
For Ulster, the hits keep on coming. Evicted from Europe at the last minute by Toulouse last weekend, they racked up another costly home defeat here to their provincial rivals and they now have serious questions to ask of themselves from here on in. And to think they were flying so high after that win in Toulouse only a fortnight ago.
It was hard to see this result yesterday morning.
Johann van Graan, already without the likes of Tadhg Beirne, Gavin Coombes, Dave Kilcoyne and Andrew Conway, had to absorb the unavailability this week of Peter O’Mahony, Simon Zebo and Niall Scannell.
In all, seven changes were made to the side that saw off Exeter last time out and the musical chairs continued with Jason Jenkins stepping in for Thomas Aherne before kickoff after the latter felt unwell during the week.
Ulster were less discommoded with just three personnel switches from the XV that lost so agonisingly to Toulouse last time and with Mike Lowry swapping the 15 jersey for a run in the No.10 shirt which he values more than any other.
Dan McFarland had rued the gifts that helped Toulouse claim two tries here in Belfast six days earlier and the head coach must have been apoplectic to see history repeat itself in the opening 40 minutes when they helped Munster take a 15-3 half-time lead.
Tries from Stephen Archer – only his fifth in 246 appearances – and Keith Earls did the damage within six minutes of each other midway through the period. One was a trowel job from inches out, the other a sweeping back move but they had their similarities.
The first came from Ulster’s failure to win their own lineout, the second from their inability to protect a ruck when attacking inside the Munster half, but it wouldn’t be fair to ignore the manner in which their mistakes were punished.
Munster did almost butcher the lineout for Archer’s score but, that apart, their execution was exquisite with the Earls score in particular a beautifully orchestrated example of how to punish an opponent off turnover ball.
That cushion was plumped up by another three points shortly after the restart although there was a case for Munster turning the screw still more given the penalty had been awarded five metres out and square in front of the posts.
If discretion got the better of valour there then the opposite held 48 minutes in when a Carbery crosskick was scooped one-handed by Stuart McCloskey and refashioned into Ulster possession, territory and serious momentum.
Moments later and Rob Herring was burrowing in for a try off a lineout maul, which John Cooney converted, but once again Ulster’s ability to shoot themselves in the foot, and at precisely the worst time, cost them dearly.
Twice McFarland’s side botched lineouts in the opposition 22. Then Bradley Roberts went off on a solo run 20-metres out and allowed Chris Cloete clamp onto the ball for a relieving penalty. Each error let more air out of their balloon.
All of this was manna from heaven for Munster but their own lack of offerings in attack in the second-half meant that they could never rest easy with a solitary Carbery penalty after 59 minutes their only addition to the scoreboard until the very end.
Truth be told, it degenerated into a scrappy, penalty-ridden affair the longer it went on, but the eleven-point gap was finally addressed with five to go after Shane Daly was sent to the bin for kicking through the ruck and Nathan Doak converted a Sean Reidy try.
That was too little and it was far too late. Munster’s defence had done enough and Carbery took his tally for the night to 14 with the last shot at goal as the clock ran out. It was enough for them to stumble over the line but it’s a result that keeps them ticking along nicely.
S Moore; R Baloucoune, J Hume, S McCloskey, E McIlroy; M Lowry, J Cooney; A Warwick, R Herring, M Moore; A O’Connor, I Henderson; M Rea, J Murphy, N Timoney.
G Milasinovich for Moore (24); S Carter for Henderson (HT); N Doak for Cooney (54); B Roberts for Herring and S Reidy for Rae (both 60); E O’Sullivan for Warwick (65); I Madigan for Moore (71).
M Haley; K Earls, C Farrell, D de Allende, S Daly; J Carbery, C Casey; J Loughman, D Barron, S Archer; J Kleyn, J Jenkins; J O’Donoghue, J Hodnett, A Kendellen.
T Aherne for Jenkins, J Wycherley for Loughman and J Ryan for Archer (all 54); F Wycherley for Kleyn (60); C Murray for Casey and C Cloete for Hodnett (both 64); S Buckley for Cloete (66).
J Peyper (South Africa).
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