PRO14: Ulster 38-17 Munster

INPHO
Author: Alex KeeryPublished 3rd Jan 2020

Ulster ran in 5 tries in an impressive 38-17 interpro thrashing of Munster at Kingspan.

They had to recover after a poor start though, as they found themselves conceding a try in the 11th minute.

Shane Daly broke the line inside the Ulster 22, and despite being tackled 5 metres short, his momentum took the full-back over the line and he found the space to touch down left of the posts, with Joey Carbery converting.

John Cooney slotted a 15th minute penalty in reply for Ulster after the visitors held on at a ruck, before the scrum-half maintained his prolific streak by bagging another try.

Jacob Stockdale used his pace and power to break down the left wing in the 18th minute before feeding the ball inside for Cooney, who stepped inside his man and raced for the posts, setting himself up for an easy conversion to put Ulster ahead.

It swung the momentum of the game in Ulster's favour, and they spent long periods camped in the Munster 22 before grabbing their second try in the 35th minute.

After several bruising phases by the tight 5, the backs spun it wide where Luke Marshall released Robert Baloucoune to dive into the corner to score. Cooney again added the extras, but there was still time for Carbery to reply with a penalty which made it 17-10 at the break.

2 minutes into the second half, the home side extended their lead when Matty Rea was sent clear by a smart Stu McCloskey offload, the flanker showing decent pace to break from the 22 and finish well to leave Cooney with a routine conversion.

Just before the hour, another intense period of Ulster pressure saw Munster camped back in their own 22.

Eventually McCloskey bulldozed over from close range to score their 4th of the night and wrap up a bonus point before Stockdale intercepted a loose Munster pass inside his own half and ran in a 60 metre intercept try.

Munster soon hit back through a Niall Scannell try, but it was nothing more than consolation. Replacement Chris Cloete was then shown a late yellow card after a dangerous tackle to round off a terrible night for Munster.