Ulster 7 Munster 9
Few had reckoned on this outcome, although Ulster coach Les Kiss had been airing his concerns of a Munster backlash prior to what turned out to be another ugly slug-fest of an interpro but one that brought so much redemption for the visitors.
Ulster, of course, had held all the cards: an unbeaten home record in the league since May 2014 and a run of four consecutive wins as opposed to Munster's damaging straight five losses. It was also the day Andrew Trimble became the first player in the northern province to turn in a 200th appearance.
As such, it didn’t seem conceivable that it could go wrong in front of a packed-out Kingspan Stadium. But it did, with the sight of the home side continuing to err on the side of over-ambition, when a much more direct game plan might have been more beneficial, doing so much to undo them.
Unlikely double
Maybe Ulster were just a shade over-confident because, as things turned out, it was Anthony Foley’s side who, when it mattered, found that little bit extra to prevail in this messy and error-riddled encounter. They have now achieved an unlikely double over their northern rivals after winning October’s high-scoring encounter in Thomond Park.
It wasn’t that Munster played well – though the sight of Ian Keatley kicking two penalties either side of striking a valuable drop goal was very uplifting for all those in red – it was just that they possessed the grittier and more direct approach required to dig this one out. Yes, a case of small margins.
And it was backs to the wall time for Foley's squad who, prior to kick-off, had the added discomfort of reshuffling the deck after losing Andrew Conway and Dave Foley.
“We just didn’t want to play our way out of it, but also grind our way out of it and make sure we earned it and that this [win] wasn’t [down to] an intercept try or a lucky bounce, but hard work,” said Foley after the four points meant his side rose from seventh to fifth in the table and jumped one place ahead of Ulster.
“It’s massive to get momentum, it’s massive to get confidence and to see the character and commitment our players showed in the shirt. It’s now important that we take that on.
“I thought the boys turned up for one another and when things went against us they stood up and went back at it hard again led by the captain CJ [Stander] and by Ian Keatley.
“At pivotal moments, he [Keatley] put us in the right areas. He has had a tough few weeks and hopefully now, going forward, he has a point he can come back to in his rugby and in his mental state from the day he played here.”
Foley also stressed that this time it was his side who managed to get that bit of good fortune when under the cosh.
“I think we got a small bit of luck, for example Paddy Jackson’s [first] penalty [in the second half] dropped short and Frankie [Francis Saili] knocked it on under the posts and nobody saw it.”
Some payback maybe for Louis Ludik’s first-half try when there appeared to be several Ulster offences in the lead-up to the 23rd minute score which Jackson converted to put the home side 7-3 up.
Crucially, though, Munster's defence – their double-teaming on Stuart McCloskey and Nick Williams being most effective at slowing possession – held the home side at bay in that first 40 minutes when the white shirts crashed around the southern province's 22.
Ulster went in only leading 7-3 and that gave the visitors a shaft of light in believing that a derby victory – and first Pro12 result since travelling to Edinburgh in November – was still a possibility.
“We gave Munster a chance to stay in the game for too long,” said a clearly downbeat Kiss after Ulster had come away with a losing bonus point.
“We started the game with an error rate that probably helped them gain some confidence, but in the second part of that first half we had enough ball there to get more than seven points but we didn’t.”
Intense level
“There were times when we just weren’t up to that intense level that we have been producing. They [Munster] stayed alive and they got the points,” Kiss said.
Then when Ulster did find themselves with some promising-looking field position from second-half penalties, they opted to shoot for goal from tricky distances and angles – Jackson was short with efforts in the 61st and 78th minutes – when putting the ball into the corner looked to offer a potentially better return.
Maybe by that stage, though, Ulster’s confidence wasn’t what it had been in the face of Munster’s more composed tackling and effective poaching.
“I’m not going to tell our guys not to back themselves but we probably backed ourselves at the wrong place at the wrong times a few times,” Kiss said.
Either way, Trimble deserved something better to take from his special game than his first-half try-saving tackle on Rory Scannell.
Then again, Munster just needed this more and rolled up their sleeves in a game that was the very antithesis of last May’s dramatic draw.
Both sides now return to Europe feeling slightly differently about themselves.
ULSTER: L Ludik; A Trimble, L Marshall, S McCloskey, R Scholes; P Jackson, R Pienaar; K McCall (C Black 65), R Best (Capt), W Herbst, L Stevenson, F van der Merwe, R Diack, N Williams, C Henry. Replacements: R Lutton W Herbst (36 mins), R Wilson for R Diack and A O'Connor for L Stevenson (both 53 mins), S Arnold for L Marshall (55 mins), C Black for K McCall (65 mins), P Marshall for R Pienaar and R Herring for R Best (both 72 mins).
MUNSTER: L Amorosino; G van den Heever, F Saili, R Scannell, R O'Mahony; I Keatley, T O'Leary (D Williams 58); D Kilcoyne, M Sherry, BJ Botha, B Holland, M Chisholm, J O'Donoghue, CJ Stander (capt), T O'Donnell. Replacements: R Copeland for T O'Donnell (57 mins), N Scannell for M Sherry (57 mins), D Hurley for R Scannell and D Williams for T O'Leary (both 58 mins), J Ryan for BJ Botha (73 mins).
Referee: G Conway (IRFU)
