Munster seal URC top seeding with comeback win over Ulster
Munster players celebrate Eoghan Clarke’s try. Pic: INPHO/Dan Sheridan
Munster will go into next weekend’s URC play-offs as top seeds following a breathless bonus-point victory over interprovincial foes Ulster at Thomond Park on Saturday evening.
It was the defending champions’ ninth league win in a row, a run that sends them into the knockout stages and a home quarter-final back in Limerick next weekend with great confidence and massive momentum as they seek to claim back-to-back titles under head coach Graham Rowntree.
Their quarter-final opponents back at Thomond Park next weekend will be Ospreys, who claimed a bonus-point derby win away to Cardiff in the final game of Round 18 to take eighth place and eliminate South Africa’s Lions for the final qualifying space. Ulster finished in sixth place in the standings and now face a last-eight clash at Leinster, who finished third.
They had trailed 17-7 at the interval as Ulster, themselves already qualified for the play-offs and assured of at least seventh place in the final standings, wiped out an early RG Snyman try with two of their own through Rob Herring and David McCann.
Yet Munster outscored the Ulstermen by three tries to one in an end-to-end second half, man of the match Calvin Nash claiming Munster’s second with Ulster replaying soon after through Matty Rea, before the home side pulled away through Shane Daly and Eoghan Clarke. Starting fly-half Jack Crowley kicked three of his four penalties before a long-range 77th-minute penalty sealed the victory that sent Munster back to the top of the table in the final round of the regular season.
Munster had started the final-round weekend in top spot but kicked off in fourth place following bonus-point wins for all of their nearest rivals, Leinster and Glasgow Warriors winning on Friday night while the Bulls assumed first place in the game immediately preceding the action at Thomond Park.
Those results changed nothing for Munster, though, with their fate in their own hands. The simple equation remained with the defending champions needing a home victory over their interprovincial rivals to return to first place and a guaranteed home draw all the way to the Grand Final on June 22.
Ulster had made two late changes to their starting backline with former Ireland Under-20 centre Jude Postlethwaite promoted from the bench to stand in for Stuart McCloskey, and Stewart Moore taking a similar route into the full-back role as Ethan McIlroy was withdrawn. That prompted a change to the visitor’s replacements’ make-up with Aaron Sexton in for Postlethwaite and forward Dave Ewers added in place of Moore as head coach Richie Murphy moved from five forwards and three backs to a six-two split.
The Ulster boss had already used two of them by the end of the first quarter having lost both his locks, Kieran Treadwell and captain Alan O’Connor to injury, the latter departing on 20 minutes with his team having erased Munster’s early lead.
RG Snyman had scored the opener after eight minutes, the South Africa lock stretching out a long arm to find the tryline after his side had spent most of that opening phase inside the Ulster 22. Jack Crowley converted but the 7-0 lead lasted just nine minutes as Munster were exposed by Ulster’s lineout maul for the second season in a row. The northerners had left Limerick with a 15-14 victory on their last visit in October 2022, as Munster ill-discipline led to the concession of three first-half tries and they succumbed again as Ireland hooker Rob Herring claimed the score, scrum-half John Cooney converting to level at 7-7.
The Ulster number nine sent his side in front six minutes later with a penalty before Munster were forced into a backline reshuffle themselves as their midfield stocks were further stretched with the withdrawal of Rory Scannell. Already missing regular starters Alex Nankivell and Antoine Frisch, Munster had started a new combination of Scannell and Sean O’Brien but it last only 35 minutes when an Ulster player accidently fell on the inside centre’s ankle in contact. Scannell left the scene on the back of a stretcher cart, replaced by Joey Carbery, one of only two backline replacements, forcing starting 10 Crowley to inside centre as he moved straight into the fly-half berth.
With Carbery in the thick of things Munster looked to have sparked into life with ball in hand but it was Ulster who scored again in time added on at the end of the first half, sloppy discipline again handing the visitors access to their 22, compounded by another penalty concession from which Herring tapped on the five-metre line, flanker David McCann scoring from short range. Cooney’s conversion opened up a 17-7 half-time lead, leaving Munster with work to do.
Their cause did not look good when they conceded another penalty shortly after the interval, though Cooney’s kick from wide on the right struck a post. The let-off preceded some decisive action from the Munster coaches’ box, as Graham Rowntree made four changes to his forward pack on 49 minutes, sending on back-rowers Gavin Coombes and John Hodnett, lock Tom Ahern and tighthead prop Oli Jager.
The impact was immediate, Jager part of a front row that won penalty advantage from his first scrum as Munster rolled the dice with the advantage, Coombes with a strong carry inside the 22 before starting wing Calvin Nash scored in the right corner.
Crowley converted to narrow the deficit to 17-14 only for Munster to concede a third Ulster try three minutes later in the 54th, replacement forward Matty Rea finishing a sweeping attack from deep and Cooney adding the extra points from the tee.
Back came Munster, Shane Daly matching his fellow wing with a try on 58 minutes, this time in the left corner, with Crowley once again up to the task of converting from the edges to make it a three-point game, Ulster in front at 24-21 heading into the final quarter, the game now wide open and the 17.496 crowd fired up in the Limerick sunshine.
Munster were ablaze on the pitch too, taking the lead on 69 minutes through their lineout drive, replacement hooker Eoghan Clarke touching down for his first try for the province to claim the try bonus point for his team. And though Crowley’s conversion attempt struck the near post from the left wing, Munster were back in front for the first time since the 17th minute at 26-24.
The Ireland fly-half struck again, this time from long-range with three minutes to go as the champions’ lead extended to 29-24. It was an advantage they would not relinquish and Munster now have the luxury of a potential route to the decider on their own terms, on home turf.
S Zebo; C Nash, S O’Brien, R Scannell (J Carbery, 35), S Daly; J Crowley, C Casey (C Murray, 69); J Loughman (J Ryan, 59), N Scannell (E Clarke, 59), S Archer (O Jager, 49); RG Snyman (T Ahern, 49), T Beirne - captain; P O’Mahony (G Coombes, 49), A Kendellen (J Hodnett, 49), J O’Donoghue.
S Moore; M Lowry, W Addison (A Sexton, 59), J Postlethwaite, J Stockdale; B Burns, J Cooney; E O’Sullivan (A Warwick, 54), R Herring (T Stewart, 54), T O’Toole (S Wilson, 66), K Treadwell (H Sheridan, 5), A O’Connor – captain (M Rea, 20, D Ewers, 63), C Izuchukwu, D McCann, N Timoney.
Replacement not used: N Doak.
Frank Murphy (IRFU)
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