Ulster batten down the hatches

Ulster 20 Munster 19

Five times as coach of North Harbour and then Auckland, Anscombe had tried to usurp the Canterbury man but he had to wait until a fiery night in the RaboDirect Pro12 at Ravenhill to end Penney’s winning start to life as Munster’s new head coach.

Watched by Ireland head coach Declan Kidney, the first Irish derby of the season ticked all the boxes in terms of drama and excitement as both sides welcomed back Test players for the first time this season — Ulster starting Stephen Ferris and Andrew Trimble while Munster preferred to spring Conor Murray, Ronan O’Gara and Keith Earls from the bench.