14-man Ulster saw out the regular GUINNESS PRO12 season unbeaten at home with a 23-23 draw against Munster at a sold-out Kingspan Stadium, keeping alive their hopes of hosting a play-off in two weeks’ time.
Neil Doak’s men displayed tremendous fighting spirit to stay in the hunt, with replacement Paul Marshall crossing for a try in the dying seconds after Iain Henderson had been sent off with six minutes to go.
Paddy Jackson then held his nerve to land a very testing levelling conversion in what was a fine afternoon for the young out-half, who seems to be hitting form at just the right time.
Munster more played their part in an enthralling interprovincial clash, with Ian Keatley knocking over six penalties in an assured display and Keith Earls running in a very well-taken try – his fifth in six PRO12 games. Anthony Foley’s side were unfortunate to lose both Tommy O’Donnell (hamstring) and Simon Zebo (back) to injury in the opening half – the pair will be assessed in the coming days.
The hyped-up home support had to watch on as the visitors dominated proceedings early on in Belfast. But despite edging close to the whitewash on a couple of occasions, Munster had to settle for a fourth minute penalty from out-half Keatley.
It was then Ulster’s turn to display their attacking credentials, with Jared Payne and Roger Wilson looking particularly dangerous with ball in hand as the hosts started to find their rhythm.
Some magical link-up play from Jackson and Darren Cave sent Louis Ludik free down the right touchline, but Tommy Bowe overran the fullback and was unable to collect the pass with the line at his mercy.
The drama continued as the electric Earls once again demonstrated his attacking brilliance. The winger scooped up the spilled Ulster ball, kicked ahead, followed up with another deft chip, and was unlucky not to win the foot race as the ball went just out of reach for sufficient downward pressure. The covering Rory Best and Henderson did enough to thwart him.
Keatley kicked two penalties in quick succession to push his side nine points clear, as Ulster struggled to make any impact on the scoreboard. The first came as Callum Black was penalised at scrum time, before Henderson’s side-entry at a midfield breakdown gave Keatley another chance in the 36th minute.
However, Ulster responded brilliantly with a terrific four-minute spell just before the break that yielded 10 points, the first of which came from Jackson’s unerring boot following a powerful home scrum. The Ireland international then added the extras to a sensational try from Bowe on the stroke of half-time.
Henderson was the catalyst with a sublime offload and the Monaghan man showed his class with a fine finish, swerving around full-back Felix Jones and evading the covering defence to dot down. Jackson’s conversion made it 10-9.
Ulster started the second period as they finished the first, with Cave bursting through the Munster midfield inside 60 seconds. That pressure led to a kickable penalty for Jackson and he made no mistake to extend his team’s lead to four points.
Munster’s pack took control of the third quarter, with ever-impressive flanker CJ Stander earning his fifth PRO12 man-of-the-match award of the season and replacement props John Ryan and BJ Botha continuing where the starting front row left off.
Powerful set piece work, with Argentinian hooker Eusebio Guinazu to the fore, laid on a further two penalty opportunities for Keatley which he turned into six more points, regaining the lead for his side at 15-13.
Quick lineout ball on the halfway line enabled Ruan Pienaar to feed Bowe, who sliced through with ease but was unable to find the supporting Chris Henry with a reverse pass.
Keatley and Jackson swapped penalties for an 18-16 scoreline with only ten minutes left on the clock, but Ulster’s hopes of a derby win were dealt a severe blow when flanker Henderson was shown red for dangerous clearing of a ruck.
Munster capitalised immediately, first building pressure via some very effective lineout mauling. Conor Murray then went wide to Keatley who fired a beautifully floated skip pass to Jones who, in turn, found Earls and he managed to manoeuvre his way past Ludik to score in the right corner. Keatley missed his first place-kick of the match but the result looked safe at 23-16.
But back came Ulster. Payne did the initial damage with an incisive break and lovely passing by Pienaar and Jackson gave Paul Marshall – a second half replacement for Peter Nelson on the wing – an easy run-in out wide on the left. Jackson coolly stepped up to add the extras to the sheer delight of the home support.
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