Hume Stars As Ulster End Munster’s Title Hopes In Belfast

James Hume scored a try and provided three assists as Ulster swept Munster aside, winning 36-17 at Kingspan Stadium to cruise through to the United Rugby Championship semi-finals.

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Dan McFarland’s men face a trip to the DHL Stormers or Edinburgh next week after reeling off five tries, including a Stewart Moore brace and a 10th-minute opener from John Cooney on his 100th appearance.

A frustrating first half for Munster left them trailing 19-7, with an opportunist Jean Kleyn effort from close range sandwiched by those scores from Cooney and impressive young full-back Moore.

Keith Earls matched Moore with tries in the 52nd and 69th minutes, but the visitors had far too many handling errors and an early concession to the rampaging Nick Timoney had Ulster out of reach.

A Cooney penalty completed his 14-point haul – making it 29-12 – and although Earls closed out the scoring, the damage had been done thanks to a deserved try from in-form centre Hume.

Ulster failed to take advantage of two early Munster errors, Peter O’Mahony fumbling the kick-off but following up with a subsequent turnover before Rob Herring knocked on after Mike Haley had been charged down by Hume.

Fineen Wycherley pinched an Ulster throw, but off a subsequent lineout platform, the hosts earned a penalty for offside. Hume took it quickly – with Munster caught napping – and sent Cooney over untouched with the scrum half also converting.

However, Munster ended the opening quarter on level terms. They went the direct route with Chris Farrell and Gavin Coombes carrying forcefully, and although the latter was held up short, Kleyn gathered Alex Kendellen’s pass at the second attempt to score under the posts.

Ruling out a knock-on, TMO Marius Jonker confirmed that the ball bounced off the Munster lock’s left boot before he snatched it up to score. Joey Carbery squared things up from straight in front and the visitors kept hold of the momentum.

Damien de Allende beat two defenders to bring them back into the Ulster 22, Stephen Archer rumbled through from a clever Coombes pass but, much to the home fans’ delight, Robert Baloucoune’s man-and-ball tackle on Carbery and relieving penalty prevented a certain try.

Ulster regained control of the scoreboard with a brilliant score from the resulting lineout. Lovely hands put Baloucoune through a gap, fellow winger Ethan McIlroy then cut in from the left and offloaded out of a tackle for the supporting Moore to finish off.

Cooney’s kick made it 14-7 and despite another big carry from Coombes, Munster’s progress was halted by a series of knock-ons. Indeed, they were stung by a third try as Ulster’s backs again found a way through.

Hume flung a pass wide for Moore to take on Earls and stretch one-handed for the try-line. It appeared touch and go if he was in control as he attempted to ground the ball, but the TMO decision went Ulster’s way once more.

Munster’s only opportunity to hit back before the interval came from a counter attack, yet Andrew Conway’s kick down towards Ulster’s five-metre line was retrieved by Ulster’s workhorse captain Iain Henderson.

Two minutes into the second half, Munster’s midfield was carved open as Stuart McCloskey’s short pass sent Hume hurtling through and he laid off for Timoney to romp home from 35 metres out. Cooney converted for a 19-point lead.

Luck was just not on Munster’s side, with Coombes unable to get a clear grounding after blocking down a Cooney kick. Fineen Wycherley also knocked on just as the visitors were poised to turn their pick-and-drives into points.

The Munster pack kept plugging away, going close from a maul before Craig Casey passed back to the blindside where Earls dived over superbly to score with an outstretched right hand. Carbery missed the touchline conversion.

Even when Munster replacement Casey won turnover ball, Henderson hoovered up a penalty in response and he called up Cooney to split the posts nearing the hour mark.

The mistakes kept coming from the men in red, and Ulster punished them, Timoney breaking a tackle from de Allende to tear through the middle and Hume bundled his way over from a flat pass by Billy Burns. Replacement Nathan Doak added the extras.

Earls and Thomas Ahern did well to hold up Robert Baloucoune after the Ulster winger had scampered into space from halfway, and Johann van Graan’s charges duly put the phases together for a well-worked try with just over 10 minutes remaining.

Earls completed his brace via a Casey pass, rewarding an initial break from young second row Ahern and good support from the Leinster-bound Jason Jenkins. Carbery’s conversion came back off the post.

Pressing for another score late on, Munster missed out when Farrell had a pass intercepted by McIlroy. Credit to Farrell and Haley for chasing back to crowd out Moore, but Ulster had already sewn up the result.