Pressure builds for Munster Cup places

IT WAS a case of men against boys at Musgrave Park on Saturday night when Munster ran in six unanswered tries against Ulster to revive their outside hopes of challenging runaway Magners League leaders Leinster.

They are still 11points adrift, albeit with a game in hand, and no doubt are still regretting the late defeat to Cardiff Blues last month. However, the broader picture centres on Saturday week’s Heineken European Cup quarter-final against Gloucester at Kingsholm and while coach Declan Kidney rightly fretted about the many turnovers against Ulster, there is no doubt this result should imbue the squad with massive confidence.

In the final analysis, Ulster were weak and callow but they had won their previous outings against the Dragons and the Scarlets under new coach Matt Williams and had good reason to believe they could build on those results. However, apart from a 10 or 15 minute spell in the first half when, as Williams admitted, “Munster dropped their level of intensity”, that was rarely a possibility.