Normal service was resumed at Thomond Park on Saturday night as under fire defending champions Munster emerged as 24-10 bonus point winners over Magners League leaders Ulster.
Two tries in each half earned Munster a five-point return, with full-back Paul Warwick getting the crucial fourth try just seconds from the end.
It was a deserved and much-needed victory for Tony McGahan’s men but again they were guilty of some erratic passing which allowed free-running Ulster to keep in contention through the second half.
Most notably, some of the passion which was missing to date returned for Munster with young prop Stephen Archer having a fine game in his first league start.
Ulster made the livelier start but could not penetrate the Munster defence and once the early pressure was soaked up, the home side moved upped a gear.
Munsterr opened the scoring, somewhat against the run of play, when lively scrum half Tomas O’Leary made the break and South African Jean de Villiers popped up in support to take the inside pass and score his first league try.
The seven-point lead lasted a mere three minutes. Ian Humphreys, who missed out on a place in Ireland’s autumn squad, delightfully chipped over the Munster defence and won the race for the touchdown, just getting his right hand out to the ball.
The Ulster number 10 added the conversion to tie the game.
When O’Gara failed to release the ball when tackled and Humphreys landed the penalty, the tide seemed to be turning. O’Gara also put the subsequent drop-out straight to touch.
But Munster steadied themselves and David Wallace and Denis Leamy, part of a terrific back row effort, were both held up close to the line.
Seven minutes before the break, Wallace was rewarded when the Munster pack drove him over after O’Leary had taken a quick free-kick to the flanker. O’Gara converted to make it 14-10 for Munster at half-time.
It was a slightly flattering scoreline and Ulster almost managed a try just after the resumption. Andrew Trimble led a fantastic off-the-cuff break, which was thwarted by some scrambling Munster defence.
With their stranglehold on the set piece, Munster clicked back into gear and won an Ulster throw near the visitors’ line. The forwards drove up and a flat pass from O’Gara sent Keith Earls past Timoci Nagusa in the left corner.
After Warwick went close to scoring Munster’s fourth try, Ulster began to throw caution to the wind and Darren Cave was sin-binned for a poorly-timed mid-air challenge on Ian Dowling as the Munster winger collected a kick.
Munster built pressure again through the forwards and from a last-minute scrum, Leamy picked up and fed O’Leary who sent Warwick in to clinch the bonus point.
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