Ulster Pick Up Second Interpro Victory Against Battling Munster

Ulster won this meeting of the two Guinness PRO14 Conference leaders, defeating a youthful Munster side 15-10 at Kingspan Stadium.

Boosted by some key returning players, the Ulstermen took their chances to lead 15-3 at half-time with Matt Faddes and Guinness player-of-the-match Ethan McIlroy both crossing.

Ireland prop Dave Kilcoyne made a welcome return to action as a second half replacement, but Munster’s nine-match winning streak in all competitions came to an end despite Darren Sweetnam’s last-minute try.

Ulster conjured up a cracking early try to begin the New Year in fine style, as a strike move off a lineout saw James Hume niftily unleash Jacob Stockdale on a slick outside break and he fed winger Faddes for the right corner.

After John Cooney was off target with the difficult conversion, a decent bout of Munster pressure yielded a straightforward 13th-minute penalty which Ben Healy sent over for 5-3.

However, the hosts were soon nine points to the good as Billy Burns typified their growing intent. He straightened the attacking line to gain ground before his clever chip out to the left put McIlroy over. Cooney successfully drew in the conversion this time.

The Ulster scrum half kept the scoreboard going in the right direction, splitting the posts on the half-hour mark after the otherwise-impressive Chris Cloete had infringed at the breakdown.

Despite maintaining a high work-rate, Munster found points hard to come by. Fineen Wycherley carried forcefully but their best try-scoring opportunity of the opening half was foiled by young winger McIlroy’s man-and-ball tackle on Shane Daly.

Play swung quickly between both halves early in the second period, the tireless Nick Timoney digging in for a turnover penalty. Daly responded with a timely pinch off off the deck just as Ulster appeared set to add to their try haul.

A knock-on denied Kieran Treadwell a close-range score as Ulster continued to pound away, the pressure leading to a yellow card for Munster captain Billy Holland who was guilty of collapsing a maul.

The pick of Munster’s forwards alongside Jack O’Donoghue, Cloete then came up with a vital turnover to break up Ulster’s momentum. Indeed, although Healy had a poor penalty miss, the visitors regrouped to finish the stronger on a chilly Belfast night.

There were senior debuts for Ulster Academy pair Callum Reid and Nathan Doak, while Munster young gun Jack Crowley was also introduced for his first senior cap. He made his mark along with fellow replacements Thomas Ahern and Roman Salanoa.

Stuart McCloskey came through the middle to thwart a Munster maul that was on the cusp of a try. Munster’s try search suffered another blow when Ahern was held up just short after a barnstorming carry by Salanoa.

The incessant Munster pressure saw them force the issue at scrum time too, landing Reid in the sin-bin late on. A deserved losing bonus point was Munster’s reward for their late dominance of possession and territory.

Nick McCarthy’s sniping run paved the way for Sweetnam to go over from a few metres out, and 20-year-old out-half Crowley opened his PRO14 account with a sweetly-struck conversion.

The interprovincial derby victory was Ulster’s second of the festive season, but a big concern for head coach Dan McFarland and his Ireland counterpart Andy Farrell was the sight of Stockdale limping off during the closing stages.

Assessing his side’s performance, Ulster’s McFarland said afterwards: “The reason we couldn’t get away from Munster is, particularly in that third quarter, we made too many errors. They’re difficult to play against.

“The breakdown is extremely difficult, they’re very niggly, they’re on the wrong side a lot, none of it is clean. We didn’t get close to their lineout, we often do get close to opposition lineout and their maul was a threat.

“It was a tough game, but very pleased to beat an unbeaten side. Ethan McIlroy was man-of-the-match, he’s demonstrated over the last while that he looks a good fit. He looks as if it’s made for him.

“I thought Dave (McCann) played really well on his first senior start, he was really involved. Plenty to work on obviously with him and Ethan, by no means are they finished products yet.”

Munster boss Johann van Graan commented: “Very pleased about the fight-back but very disappointed to lose. We came here to win and I believe that squad in there was good enough to win, so (I’m) disappointed with that.

“A bit of accuracy (was the difference). I felt Ulster started well, we didn’t handle that first kick-off very well and they got some momentum with that scrum free-kick against us.

“That gave them an ‘in’, we knew we just needed to stay in the fight and, like I said, incredibly disappointed to lose there 15-10. We’ll take the bonus point, but we came here to win.”