Munster 36 Ulster 8:MUNSTER'S INJURY misfortune all season shows no sign of abating but they still remain on course to become the first side to retain the league title.
They ran in five tries to see off an understrength Ulster side at Thomond Park on Saturday night but coach Tony McGahan said that improvement will be needed if they are to win next Friday’s RaboDirect PRO12 semi-final against Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium.
“We would maybe have liked to finish off a few more things but that was more eagerness than anything, so we’ll see it as a step forward.”
However, not for the first time this season, the biggest talking point afterwards concerned the scale of injuries with both skipper Paul O’Connell and hooker Damian Varley having to be helped off in the final quarter.
McGahan, in his final Thomond Park game before returning to Australia, said this was not a revenge mission for Munster for their Heineken Cup quarter-final loss.
“We had an opportunity to win a quarter final and didn’t take it, so that opportunity was gone, so if we had won by ten tries tonight it wouldn’t have made up for that.
“It was more about ourselves and getting focused on the competition we’re in and make sure we finished our last game at home with a result and certainly getting some improvement in the areas we didn’t have last time we played them,” he said.
Ulster played like a side who more than one eye on their Heineken Cup showdown with Leinster, as backs coach Neil Doak conceded. “When you’re playing a European Cup final in two weeks, some guys are bound to be looking beyond some things, it can be quite difficult to get the mind tuned in and maybe we weren’t as fired up as possibly we could have been,” said Doak.
He is hopeful a knock to the head which forced a groggy Ian Humphreys to go off in the closing stages is not serious as Ulster head to Portugal for a four-day camp to start their Heineken Cup final preparations.
Munster, with Lifeimi Mafi superb in his final Thomond Park outing, struck early with Simon Zebo crossing for his 12th try of the season after seven minutes and they led 17-3 at the break after Peter O’Mahony finished a good move.
Munster were on top up front but Ulster’s promising Irish U-20 star Iain Henderson drove through for a fine try after Mike Sherry had got Munster’s third.
But Munster finished strongly and after Mick O’Driscoll was given a standing ovation from the 12,500 crowd before his retirement, Stephen Archer secured Munster’s fifth try bonus point of the campaign late on.
They added a fifth try in the final play of the night when Tommy O’Donnell burst down the left to score. The impressive Scott Deasy, a late replacement for Ian Keatley, slotted three of the conversions while Declan Cusack landed one of them in his only appearance of the season.
McGahan downplayed his final Thomond Park game but said a bonus point win was an apt way for the departing players to sign off.
“We have some long-serving players who are leaving and put in a great amount of time into the club and for them it was exceptionally special to be part of it and to get the result to let them leave with fond memories,” he added.
MUNSTER: F Jones; J Murphy, I Dineen, L Mafi, S Zebo; S Deasy, C Murray; W du Preez, M Sherry, BJ Botha; M O’Driscoll, P O’Connell; D Ryan, T O’Donnell, P O’Mahony. Replacements: D Varley for Sherry (50 mins), P Butler for O’Connell (55 mins), T O’Leary for Murray (55), K Earls for Dineen (58), D Kilcoyne for Du Preez (65), S Archer for Botha (67, D O’Callaghan for O’Driscoll (70 mins), D Cusack for Zebo (77 mins), Sherry for Varley (78 mins).
ULSTER: A D’Arcy; A Trimble, N Spence, I Whitten, C Cochrane; P Jackson, P Marshall; P McAllister, N Brady (N Annett, 67), D Fitzpatrick; L Stevenson, D Tuohy; I Henderson, W Faloon, R Diack. Replacements: T Court for McAllister (12 mins), A Birch for Faloon (47), I Humphreys for Trimble (50 mins), M McComish for Diack (55), C Black for Fitzpatrick (55), B McIlroy for Marshall (60), C Gilroy for D’Arcy (64), N Annett for Brady (67 MINS).
Yellow card: Trimble (12 mins).
Referee: A Rolland (IRFU).
