Ulster 7 Munster 9
Munster halted their five-game losing run and completed the double over Ulster this season by beating their interprovincial rivals 9-7 on Saturday to stay in touch with the Pro12’s top three.
Anthony Foley’s side grabbed their first win in Belfast since October 2010 and, in doing so, also became the first side to win in the league at Ulster since Leinster managed a victory there back in May 2014.
Two penalties and a drop goal from Munster fly-half Ian Keatley got the southern province the result to lift them into fourth and inflict a first reverse on Ulster after four straight victories.
It was a far from memorable game to mark Andrew Trimble becoming the first Ulster player to reach 200 appearances for the province and Les Kiss’ squad had to be content with a losing bonus point which saw them drop to fifth.
They did score the game’s only try through Louis Ludik’s first-half effort though they crucially went scoreless in the second 40 minutes.
They had two shots at goal from Paddy Jackson in that second half but he was short with both difficult efforts.
Ulster led 7-3 at the break in what had been a fairly scrappy opening half which they largely dominated in terms of possession and territory.
Munster — who lost Andrew Conway and Dave Foley just prior to kick-off — managed to open the scoring when Keatley landed an eighth-minute penalty after Nick Williams was penalised at a breakdown.
Ulster then came close to hitting back but Ruan Pienaar was penalised for holding on and shortly afterwards Trimble brought Rory Scannell crashing to earth just as the centre looked certain to score.
This led to the home side’s most sustained period of pressure in Munster’s 22 and eventually Ulster’s possession resulted in a breakthrough when Pienaar’s pop pass saw full-back Ludik dive over after 23 minutes.
Paddy Jackson converted to give Ulster a 7-3 lead, although they lost prop Wiehahn Herbst to injury before half-time.
The second half saw even more scrappy play and handling errors from both sides but it was Keatley who nailed the first points with a 57th-minute drop goal following a scrum turnover.
And, shortly afterwards, Munster took a two-point lead when Keatley struck a penalty on the hour mark after Ricky Lutton was penalised for offside.
Ulster had to respond and after BJ Botha was pinged at a scrum, Jackson had a shot at goal, three minutes after the hour, but the chance fell just short and Munster cleared.
From there, the familiar pattern continued with both sides still making high profile errors but with Ulster now having to increasingly force the play.
It looked a lost cause but then the home side had a shot at it after Gerhard van den Heever was offside from Lucas Amorosino’s knock-on.
However, Jackson’s 78th-minute effort from near the touchline was well short and Munster hung on for the valuable four points.
Ulster: Louis Ludik, Andrew Trimble, Luke Marshall, Stuart McCloskey, Rory Scholes, Paddy Jackson, Ruan Pienaar: Kyle McCall, Rory Best (Capt), Wiehahn Herbst, Lewis Stevenson, Franco van der Merwe, Robbie Diack, Chris Henry, Nick Williams. Replacements: Rob Herring (for Williams '71), Callum Black (for McCall '64), Ricky Lutton (for Herbst '35), Alan O'Connor (Stevenson '53), Roger Wilson (for Diack '53), Paul Marshall (for Pienaar '70), Ian Humphreys, Sam Arnold (for Marshall '54).
Munster: Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino; Gerhard van den Heever, Francis Saili, Rory Scannell, Ronan O'Mahony; Ian Keatley, Tomás O'Leary; Dave Kilcoyne, Mike Sherry, BJ Botha; Billy Holland, Mark Chisholm; Jack O'Donoghue, Tommy O'Donnell, CJ Stander (Capt). Replacements: Niall Scannell (for Sherry '56), John Ryan (for Botha '70), Mario Sagario, Shane Buckley, Robin Copeland (for O'Donnell '56), Duncan Williams (for O'Leary '57), Tyler Bleyendaal, Denis Hurley (for Scannell '57).
Referee: Gary Conway.
