McCloskey And Cooney Lead Ulster To Five-Try Derby Triumph

Ulster started 2020 with a considerable bang, showing plenty of firepower in a five-try 38-17 dismissal of Munster at Kingspan Stadium.

Shane Daly’s early try and a closing consolation score from Niall Scannell were overshadowed by well-finished seven-pointers from star scrum half John Cooney, Robert Baloucoune, Matthew Rea, man-of-the-match Stuart McCloskey and Jacob Stockdale.

An ultra-competitive first half ended 17-10 in Ulster’s favour, Cooney’s sixth try in seven games coming in response to Daly’s ninth-minute opener. However, a three-try second half salvo had the home side out of sight as they extended their unbeaten home run to 19 matches.

It was a clinical attacking display from Dan McFarland’s men, who accumulated 16 tries across their three festive fixtures. They continually won the collisions tonight, with strong-running centre McCloskey getting over the gain-line and showing his effectiveness as a carrier and a distributor.

Early on, Munster looked sharp and determined to bounce back from last week’s home defeat to Leinster. Making his first provincial start of the season, Joey Carbery’s inside pass sent Andrew Conway into the Ulster 22 as the visitors responded to Jack McGrath’s early eye-catching break.

Munster struck from the resulting scrum, neatly attacking the blindside where Rory Scannell’s decoy run caused disruption and Carbery put full-back Daly slicing in between McCloskey and Baloucoune, and although he was half-tackled, the Corkman’s momentum allowed him to ground the ball in a fine finish.

The fit-again Carbery supplied the conversion but a turnover penalty won by Ulster captain Iain Henderson, evening it up after Peter O’Mahony’s earlier success at the breakdown, allowed Cooney to split the posts on the quarter hour mark.

It got even better for the Ulstermen a couple of minutes later, good hands following a Will Addison kick receipt allowing Stockdale to charge down the left wing and he passed back inside for the supporting Cooney to catch Keith Earls out with a superb step and burst of pace to the try-line.

The talismanic half-back converted for a quick 10-point turnaround, and with Addison’s astute kick through soon causing trouble for Daly, Ulster pressed again. Unfortunately for the home full-back, it was his spill about seven metres out which spoiled a slick Cooney and McCloskey-led attack which deserved points.

Ulster’s lineout was a cause for concern, with Munster skipper O’Mahony pinching a couple of their throws. However, a series of penalties pinned Munster back and it took Daly’s fingertips to deny the incoming Baloucoune a try from out-half Billy Burns’ cross-field kick.

Further indiscipline had the Munster defence under serious pressure, and with Henderson causing the initial damage with a monster Rea-supported carry, Ulster deservedly claimed their second try in the 34th minute. As Earls bit in, floated passes from McCloskey and Luke Marshall released Baloucoune to dive over near the right corner.

A crisp conversion from Cooney briefly made it 17-7, before Carbery clawed back three points by punishing Henderson’s ruck infringement. Ulster, though, were quickest out of the blocks on the restart as they pushed 14 points clear on the back of a decent lineout and some robust carrying.

Rob Herring connected with Rea at the 42nd-minute set piece, and after a couple of punchy carries from McCloskey and Sean Reidy, it was the big centre’s inviting short pass which put Rea through a gap and he had the pace to finish off beside the posts, despite Daly’s despairing tackle.

Earls scrambled well to prevent Baloucoune from nabbing the bonus point try, which took some extra time to arrive. Carbery threatened to open up the Ulster defence with a half-break, and a degree of niggle crept into the round 10 tie as the sell-out home crowd continued to roar Ulster on.

The momentum swung back behind McFarland’s charges when Nick Timoney and Henderson combined to force a penalty. They went for the corner and after the forwards set up a close-in ruck, McCloskey did brilliantly to evade Sam Arnold’s tackle, absorb contact from John Ryan and Darren O’Shea and then reach out to touch down beside the posts.

Just when Munster were edging back downfield with Daly showing impressive footwork, Stockdale wrestled Carbery’s pass out of Arnold’s grasp and ran in untouched from his own 10-metre line. Cooney converted both tries to take his haul to 18 points and leave it 38-10 with just under 20 minutes still to play.

Munster rallied initially with replacement Dan Goggin having a try ruled out for a knock-on, shortly before hooker Scannell was driven over for a well-executed 65th-minute maul try. Carbery converted with the aid of the right hand post.

Yet, Ulster made sure they ended this lively derby clash on the front foot, responding to a couple of sin-binnings for Chris Cloete, who was guilty of upending McCloskey at a ruck, and Kyle McCall who was caught not rolling away during a scrappy last quarter.

The result brings Ulster back within six points of Conference A leaders Leinster, while also providing a timely boost heading into next week’s European trip to Clermont Auvergne. Munster are also bound for France, needing to quickly recapture their best form in a season-defining showdown with Racing 92.

Giving his post-match reaction, Ulster head coach McFarland said: “You’ve got to be pleased. Munster are a quality team, (on) both sides of the ball they tested us today. Our attack was going to have to be really good to get points off them.

“They have the best record, in my opinion, in the PRO14 and Champions Cup defensively, so we would have to be astute in attack and sharp in what we were doing.

“Fair play, (assistant coach) Dwayne (Peel) put a really good plan together – our first try came off exactly what he’d shown the lads and explained what we needed to do, and we executed it perfectly.

“Our set plays, I thought, worked really well. The players out on the pitch had to do a job as well, and I thought Stu McCloskey was immense. We just needed control on the game and we got that, and we displayed when we hold onto the ball in the 22 we were able to squeeze them and get the points.”

Munster boss Johann van Graan noted: “I thought we started pretty well, got a nice try but we were unable to exit and they got three points. Then, we had an attacking lineout and were penalised for a side-clean, we turned that over and kicked long and then they caught us on the blindside with Cooney’s try.

“Then, multiple penalties on our goal-line. I think we were lucky not to concede a yellow card there. We got to within seven on the stroke of half-time, we spoke at half-time about discipline and patience and we conceded a penalty just after half-time, we conceded a try and went from 17 to 24-10 straight away.

“We came up against a good side at home who haven’t lost here for a long time. We had to play more, at 31-10 that intercept killed the game. So, we got outplayed on the evening and I’m very disappointed.”