HEINEKEN CUP QUARTER-FINAL Munster 16 Ulster 22:ULSTER'S BEST day since they won the Cup in 1999, and assuredly their best away day ever. In storming Munster's Limerick fortress they became only the second team in 44 Heineken Cup matches to do so. A few quibbles with Romain Poite's 11-6 penalty count aside, it was deservedly so.
Opportunistically constructing a 19-0 inside the first 32 minutes, thereafter Ulster withstood Munster’s typically spirited but somewhat blunt comeback without too much alarm. It helps when you have as world-class a goalkicker as Ruan Pienaar, who unerringly landed three wind-assisted penalties from inside his own half.
With Johann Muller in calm command, their line-out was superb and there was a ferociously committed effort; witness a phenomenal 137 tackles.
Here, Stephen Ferris led the way, despite clearly playing through the pain barrier with his ankle ligament injury. Others were immense: Dan Touhy and Pedrie Wannenburg having big games, no-one typifying their work-rate in defence more than John Afoa. Even the Ian Humphreys, Paddy Wallace, Darren Cave defensive axis was near impenetrable.
Munster had their heroes too: nearly all of them up front, where the work-rate, carrying and tackling of Paul O’Connell, Peter O’Mahony and the rest of the tight five was huge. James Coughlan came up with big plays and Tommy O’Donnell had a fine full debut.
With a superior scrum, Munster still had enough possession and time to complete another of their escapology acts, but despite one well-worked try before half-time, their attacking game became more desperate and shapeless. They couldn’t generate ruck ball, where Ulster tacklers cleverly delayed their release and the next men worked their hands onto the ball with little by way of punishment from Poite. Not for the first time you wondered if Peter Stringer’s zippy service off the bench would have helped.
Furthermore, some of their alignment was very flat without enough variety, while their back three didn’t click at all.
The roar which greeted Munster’s delayed arrival was spine-tingling but soon the quarter of the ground in white had Thomond reverberating to “Stand up for the Ulstermen”, with good reason.
Making first use of the wind, the one thing Ulster did not want as a starting point was Ian Humphreys kicking the ball dead from inside his own half. However, it worked out, Monsieur Poite penalising BJ Botha for driving up illegally and Pienaar landing the first of his three monster penalties.
The second occurred when Denis Hurley miscued an up-and-under and several Munster forwards did not heed Poite’s instructions to retreat. After Conor Murray was harshly adjudged to knock on at the base, thanks to a trailing boot from Ferris, Andrew Trimble was sent on the charge at Ronan O’Gara. From the recycle, Humphreys brought Stefan Terblanche into the line with a beautiful long pass which enabled Craig Gilroy skate past Denis Hurley on the outside on half-way before stepping inside flailing tackles by Felix Jones and Simon Zebo in turn. Pienaar converted and tagged on a third penalty after Ferris isolated O’Connell for not releasing. Ulster were in dreamland. Even their own fans could scarcely have believed this.
Roared to respond, Munster went to work, with the forward rumblers, Murray, Mafi and co running hard as the home side went through the phases. Twice they went to the corner and twice they were repelled; Afoa blocking Murray’s path to the line off one move, before Ulster went downfield and worked a drop goal routine off a line-out which Humphreys coolly landed.
Ulster’s defence had been rigid and fast out of the line, Ferris as ever leading the way with one thumping hit on O’Donnell. Munster responded by working the blindside and O’Mahony, Botha and Murray did well to keep the ball in play before Donnacha Ryan used three decoy forwards to find O’Gara on the wrap; straight lines and good hands by Earls and Mafi enabling Zebo to finish in the opposite corner. O’Gara even landed a near impossible touchline conversion into the wind.
Chris Henry was binned for ill-advisedly playing the ball on the floor and when Humphreys unluckily saw a nicely-angled kick roll dead from inside half-way again, the Munster scrum turned the screw again for O’Gara to land a 45-metre penalty with the last kick of the half.
They made it a one-score game after James Coughlan brilliantly stepped both Rory Best and Johann Muller, and Afoa flirted with a yellow card when killing ruck ball for O’Gara to make it 13-19.
O’Gara put in a couple of pinpoint, one-bounce angled touchfinders to pin Ulster back before Pienaar and he traded penalties, the former after a rare Ulster sortie upfield and a delayed whistle against Munster for wheeling a scrum and then Ferris for a high tackle on Coughlan.
Ulster were losing their way, Pienaar missing a couple of penalties to touch, and Munster were coming up with some big plays – O’Connell making one phenomenal line-out steal. But they couldn’t construct anything of sustained value and there was an increasing desperation about them and the crowd’s urgings. As they began emptying their bench, Ulster left theirs alone.
Indeed Ulster twice had chances to put themselves two scores clear but Humphreys, forced sideways by the advancing Tomás O’Leary, struck the outside of the upright on the run and Pienaar’s radar was for once off from 45 metres. It scarcely mattered.
Scoring sequence: 5 minsPienaar pen 0-3; 11Pienaar pen 0-6; 16Gilroy try, Pienaar con 0-13; 20Pienaar pen 0-16; 32Humphreys drop goal 0-19; 34Zebo try, O'Gara con 7-19; 40O'Gara pen 10-19 (half-time 10-19); 49O'Gara pen 13-19; 59Pienaar pen 13-22; 61O'Gara pen 16-22.
MUNSTER: F Jones; D Hurley, K Earls, L Mafi, S Zebo; R O'Gara, C Murray; W du Preez, M Sherry, B Botha, D Ryan, P O'Connell [capt], P O'Mahony, T O'Donnell, J Coughlan. Replacements: J Murphy for Hurley (58 mins), Donncha O'Callaghan for O'Donnell (59 mins), D Varley for Sherry (68 mins), D Wallace for O'Mahony, T O'Leary for Murray (both 73 mins). Not used: M Horan, S Archer, I Keatley
ULSTER: S Terblanche; A Trimble, D Cave, P Wallace, C Gilroy; I Humphreys, R Pienaar; T Court, R Best, J Afoa, J Muller [capt], D Tuohy, S Ferris, C Henry, P Wannenburg. Not used: N Brady, P McAllister, A Macklin, L Stevenson, W Faloon, P Marshall, N Spence, A D'Arcy.
Sinbinned: Henry (36-46 mins).
