MUNSTER SUPPORTERS SPENT much of today’s interpro derby meeting with Ulster worrying that their team were going to lose top spot in the URC table but after a sticky first-half performance, the home side finished strong to edge their visitors and secure pole position ahead of the knockouts.
Graham Rowntree’s side trailed for most of the game but a big effort from the Munster bench helped them seize control and claim a 29-24 bonus-point win which secured a home quarter-final date with Ospreys on Friday.
“We don’t do things easy, do we?” said Rowntree.
“Credit to them, they came to play and grew into the game. We made some individual errors there, they capitalised, they scored off them. Half time was about staying calm and they came back in the third quarter, a missed tackle from John Hodnett and they were through.
“We found a way, it’s an overused expression, but we found a way to win the game. The bench was big again. When you go 6/2 and lose a back in the first half, we were still brave around the 45 minute mark bringing four forwards on.
“I couldn’t really bring Conor [Murray] on any earlier than we did, but overall, I think it worked, the punch that our bench gave us.
It will stand to us. There’s plenty of bits to review, but a lot of our errors were individual errors, and then it was composure in the last 10 metres of the field.
“I’m delighted with our attitude there, we went for the corner, mauled them over, our scrum was in good nick and we used it as a good platform for penalties. It will stand to us.”
Munster will now welcome the Ospreys to Limerick on Friday night, knowing they will enjoy home advantage right through the knockouts should they advance.
“We have a lot of respect for what Toby [Booth] has done there. As a club what he’s done, there, the challenges around availability and budget. They’re a sticky team,” Rowntree added.
“That’s the next game, we’re at the play-offs and finished the league at the top. I’m immensely proud of that as a club. I think we were 11th on 2 January, we had our injuries around Christmas, and picked up 44 of a possible 45 points since that Connacht game.
“We’ve been away in South Africa, I’m really pleased with how we’ve finished up. We don’t get a trophy for it, but where we’ve got to, I’m immensely proud.
“We go to the play-offs now, can’t wait.”
Rowntree added that the initial prognosis on Rory Scannell “doesn’t look good” after the center suffered what appeared to be an ankle injury towards the end of the first half. Munster will provide a further update early next week.
Meanwhile, Ulster head coach Richie Murphy said that while he was proud of his team’s efforts in Limerick he was disappointed not to come away with a better result.
“I loved my team’s performance, I thought they were brilliant,” Murphy said.
“Came down here, went after Munster from the word go and really stuck in the game. Lost our way a little bit in the second half, we just lost control of the ball, there was a couple of decisions that didn’t go our way and then Munster just got back on top, and I suppose the home town sort of feel just barely got them over the line.”
The defeat means Ulster will now face a tough assignment away to Leinster at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
“Performances are great, but at this level you’ve got to win games,” Murphy added.
We would have loved to come here and won and gone into that game next week, it would probably have been Glasgow, and gone in on the back of a win.
“Obviously we haven’t done that but we’re very early on our journey as a team and the great thing is the signs of how we’re going to be, becoming a tough team to play against and a team that looks after the ball much better than what we were doing a couple of weeks back.”
Ulster lost both Ethan McIlroy and Stuart McCloskey to injury before kick-off but the pair could come back into contention next weekend. McIlroy suffered a back spasm in the warm-up today while McCloskey failed to shake off a groin strain that had been troubling him across the week.
Kieran Treadwell suffered a calf injury today while Alan O’Connor failed a HIA.
Murphy also refused to be drawn on an early incident which saw RG Snyman escape a card following a high hit on Will Addison.
“I don’t really have any thoughts on it. I didn’t really see it. The referee was going through his due process. I don’t really have a comment on it.”
