Munster no match for a determined Ulster side as they struggle all over the pitch and lose by 25 points

Ulster 28 

Munster 3 

Ulster batted aside Munster with ease in an error strewn interprovincial URC clash at the Affidea Stadium in Belfast on Friday evening.

Head coach Richie Murphy selected a full-strength Ulster side, while Clayton McMillan made ten changes from the side that narrowly lost to Leinster in Limerick last week, meaning Munster were very much the underdogs here.

Ulster opened the scoring after four minutes when an excellent kick chase by centre James Hume saw Calvin Nash getting pinned just outside of his own 22 and Nathan Doak slotted the resultant penalty.

Munster’s kicking game was extremely poor in the opening half meaning they were firmly camped in their own half, so it was no surprise when Doak split the posts with another simple penalty from in front of the Munster posts in the 25th minute.

From the kickoff Munster finally got some territory in the Ulster 22 with Brian Gleeson coming up short of the tryline with a lunge for the line, although Munster had the luxury of coming back for a simple three-pointer from JJ Hanrahan due to a penalty advantage under the sticks. 

It was to be their only score.

It was uninspiring stuff all round, with the game being littered with little errors and lacking many moments of real quality. 

Calvin Nash made one dangerous looking diagonal run, only for the ball to be coughed up quickly with a poor handling error, while his opposite number Werner Kok was also a standout, as they went into the warmth of the dressing rooms with Ulster leading 6-3.

Doak, who has just signed a new contract with Ulster, rifled over a long-range penalty in the 42nd minute to push the lead back out to six points.

Ulster finally put some accuracy together with Jacob Stockdale just losing control at the last second when grounding it in the corner, but soon after hooker Tom Stewart muscled his way over from close range to score in the 49th minute.

Five minutes later, they were in again, with former Munster outhalf Jake Flannery crossing in the right corner after some wonderful handling from Kok to put him in the clear.

Bryn Ward crashed his way over from close range in the 72nd minute as Munster failed to fire a shot all night and were relieved to hear the final whistle.

Scorers for Ulster: N Doak (3 pens, 2 cons), T Stewart, J Flannery, B Ward (1 try each) 

Munster: JJ Hanrahan (1 pen) 

Ulster: J Stockdale; W Kok, J Hume, S McCloskey, Z Ward; J Murphy, N Doak; A Bell, T Stewart, T O’Toole; I Henderson (capt), J Hopes; C Izuchukwu, N Timoney, B Ward.

Subs: J Flannery for J Stockdale (49), E O’Sullivan for A Bell (53), R Herring for T Stewart (56), S Wilson, D McCann and J Postlethwaite for T O’Toole, C Izuchukwu and S McCloskey (60), C McKee for N Doak (79).

Munster: M Haley; C Nash, D Kelly, A Nankivell, T Abrahams; JJ Hanrahan, P Patterson; J Wycherley, D Barron (capt), M Ala’alatoa; J Kleyn, F Wycherley; T Ahern, J Hodnett, A Kendellen.

Subs: B Gleeson for J Hodnett (10), J Loughman, C Bartley and J O’Donoghue for J Wycherley, M Ala’alatoa and A Kendellen (50), E Coughlan and T Butler for P Patterson and M Haley (56), S O’Brien for A Nankivell (64).

Referee: Mike Adamson (SRU).