URC: 14-man Ulster fall to last-gasp defeat to Munster

Ulster 19 Munster 22

Ulster's Tom O'Toole walks off after his first half red card
Author: Gareth McCullough at the Kingspan StadiumPublished 20th Dec 2024
Last updated 20th Dec 2024

Ulster somehow managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory as Munster came to Belfast and stole a last-gasp win at the Kingspan.

The hosts though they had won it when James McNabney scored four minutes from time to put Ulster 19-15 in front. But up popped Tom Farrell with his third try of the match in the last play of the game tosend the visitors south withe the points.

It all came after Ulster's first half try scorer Tom O'Toole had been red card before the break. And despite having most of the possession, the home side could'nt see out the victory

Ulster began brightly, dominating possession in the early exchanges and deservedly took the lead just eight minutes into the match.

After a concerted period of pressure right on the Munster try line, O'Toole eventually got over to put the hosts in front, with John Cooney given the easiest of conversions on his return to the starting line-up.

However, they failed to make the most of their superiority in the first quarter of the game and couldn’t add to that initial seven-point tally for the remainder of the half.

Instead it was the visitors who hit back as Ulster got caught short on their right hand side and Tom Farrell managed to find a space and power his way over the line. But Ireland international

Jack Crowley missed the conversion from a tight angle on the left.

Things then took another negative turn for Murphy’s side as try scorer O'Toole was shown a red card by Referee Ben Whitehouse – following a lengthy TMO review - after being adjudged to have put his full weight deliberately down on Alex Nankivell's knee

Either side of that dismissal, the hosts lost both Zac Ward and Stuart McCloskey to injury, with Jack Murphy coming on for his debut.

On the restart, Munster took just 11 minutes to make their numerical advantage count as Farrell dotted down in the right corner for his second try of the match after a clever kick from Crowley, with the latter again missing the conversion.

With the side in red 10-7 up and Ulster with a man down, the home side rallied and regained the lead on 65 minutes.

They had been knocking on the door ever since Munster went in front and it was replacement Harry Sheridan who finally unpicked the lock to get over - but Cooney's conversion attempt comes back off the post though.

And just when it looked like they would take control of the match, with parity restored in terms of numbers as Munster’s Rory Scannell was sinbinned for a late tackle on Cooney, the away side scored again almost instantly.

Munster’s Tom Farrell scores the winning try of the match late in the game.

This time it was Shane Daly who spotted the space down the left to power away from weak Ulster challenges and cross the whitewash. Crowley missed his third conversion in succession, but his side still held a narrow 15-12 lead.

Then came McNabney's try as he finished off another surge towards the line and Cooney converted to give his side a four-point lead going into the final few minutes

But, with the last play of the game, a succession of missed tackles allowed Munster to grab the winning try as Farrell completed his hat-trick and Crowley converted

A match that Ulster, despite being down to 14 men for a large chunk of, will wonder how they managed to throw it away.

MATCH STATS

Ulster: Warwick, Herring, O’Toole, O’Connor (C), Treadwell, McNabney, Marcus Rea, McCann, Cooney, Morgan, Ward, McCloskey, Postlethwaite, Kok, Lowry

Replacements: Telfer for Ward (26mins), Wilson for Telfer (34mins), Andrew for Herring (56mins), Sheridan for Treadwell (61mins), O’Sullivan for Warwick (63mins), Matty Rea for Marcus Rea (66mins),

Tries: O’Toole, Sheridan, McNabney

Conversions: Cooney (2)

Penalties:

Munster: Ryan, N Scannell, Archer, Ahern, Wycherley, O’Donoghue (C), Hodnett, Coombes, Patterson, Crowley, Daly, Nankivell, Farrell, Nash, Haley

Replacements: R Scannell for Nankivell (34mins), Coughlan for Patterson (45mins), O’Connell for O’Donoghue (50mins), Jager for Archer (50mins), Kilcoyne for Ryan (50mins), Kendellen for Hodnett (55mins), Gleeson for Wycherley (62mins),

Tries: Farrell (2), Daly

Conversions:

Penalties:

Referee: Ben Whitehouse