Ulster finished the calendar year on a high as tries from Stefan Terblanche, John Afoa, Ian Humphreys and Ruan Pienaar helped them see off the challenge of Munster at Ravenhill.
A tentative opening saw Munster enjoy the majority of the early possession without posing any significant threat. Indeed, a Munster offside in the seventh minute allowed Humphreys kick Ulster into the lead.
The advantage was short lived, however, as after a patient Munster build-up, young winger Luke O’Dea resisted a desperate last ditch tackle to go over in the right corner after 14 minutes. Ian Keatley added the extras.
The Ulster response was an impressive one. Pinpoint and lightning quick passing saw the hosts burst upfield just shy of the 20-minute mark, with superb handling from Ruan Pienaar in particular eventually forcing a Munster infringement directly in front of the posts.
Humphreys slotted home with ease, reducing the gap to 7-6, and it was not long before an exhilarating breakaway move saw the home team take the lead.
After a turnover in midfield, Darren Cave bulldozed a path through the Munster defence and supplied Stefan Terblanche on the wing at the opportune moment.
The veteran Springbok marked his first full start for Ulster with a graceful dive-and-slide into the corner, and Humphreys’ conversion made it 13-7.
Keatley clawed back three points virtually immediately with the help of the left-hand upright, and had the chance to level the encounter in the 34th minute from a central position, but screwed the kick wide.
Then, a second Ulster break only moments later found Terblanche in roughly the same position from which he had grabbed his try.
This time, however, there were too many red-clad obstacles in his way, but, after some smart recycling, the ball found its way to prop John Afoa, who had the requisite brawn to force his way over for a timely second try. Humphreys converted to put Ulster 20-10 clear at the break.
Ulster’s third try, five minutes after the restart, came from a combination of opportunism and guile. Pedrie Wannenburg capitalised on a Munster fumble in their own half, hacking the ball on.
Humphreys was first to react, dribbling on over the line before touching down ahead of Scott Deasy. The out-half narrowly failed to convert his own score, and was unlucky again moments later when he saw his penalty attempt come back off the post.
Nevertheless, with a 25-10 buffer and over half-an-hour left on the clock, a bonus point victory looked a very realistic target for Brian McLaughlin’s men.
Right on cue, Ravenhill went into rapture in the 55th minute when Pienaar took advantage of some sloppy scrummaging from the visitors to nip in and take the ball legally, before tearing up the final third to land try number four in the left corner.
The conversion attempt from Humphreys slipped just wide, but with 20 points between the sides, the match was effectively over as a contest.
A buoyant Ulster refused to rest on their laurels and their ambition was rewarded again 10 minutes from time, with a simple penalty from the influential Pienaar.
The Munstermen grabbed a late consolation try through Johne Murphy after Ulster had dropped the ball metres from their own line and although Keatley quickly converted, the visitors were unable to get into bonus point range.
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