Munster 21 Ulster 20

Ulster fell just short in a tightly-contested encounter with fellow Guinness Pro12 challengers Munster, losing by a single point at Thomond Park despite a rousing comeback in the closing 10 minutes. Tonight at Thomond Park Ulster fell just short in a tightly-contested encounter with fellow Guinness Pro12 challengers Munster, losing by a single point despite a rousing comeback in the closing 10 minutes. Ian Humphreys, impressive throughout and the architect of 15 of Ulster’s 20 points, saw his 79^th-minute conversion attempt from Nick Williams’ try spin just wide as the Limerick-based side held on for a slender victory, which limited Ulster to the consolation of a losing bonus point, and saw the hosts move above Neil Doak’s side to second place in the standings. The return of captain Rory Best to the side at hooker was one of four personnel changes from the XV which started in last Friday’s victory over the Ospreys, with Alan O’Connor earning a first-choice berth in the second row, Williams taking over at Number Eight, and Humphreys starting at out-half in the absence of the injured Paddy Jackson. Elsewhere, the back three of Stuart Olding, Louis Ludik and Craig Gilroy all retained their places, with Stuart McCloskey and last week’s two-try scorer Darren Cave continuing in the centre, and Paul Marshall at scrum-half. Callum Black and Wiehahn Herbst lined up either side of Best, with Franco van der Merwe partnering O’Connor at lock, and Roger Wilson and Sean Reidy flanking Williams in the back row. On an emotional night for the Ulstermen – and indeed Irish rugby as a whole – after the passing of the legendary Jack Kyle, a bright start from the visitors won a third-minute penalty when Donncha O’Callaghan failed to roll away in the tackle, giving Humphreys a central kick which he dispatched with ease. Munster responded rapidly, Gerhard van der Heever scooting past Gilroy on the Munster right wing, with Ulster relieved to escape with the concession of only a penalty when Herbst infringed inside the ‘22’. Ian Keatley’s effort veered well off-target, however, and as the pendulum swung back in Ulster’s favour, Humphreys added to his tally on 11 and 14 minutes with two more well-executed penalties. The visitors continued to dominate with an enterprising break spearheaded by Gilroy then Wilson only brought to an end by an unfortunate knock-on from Ludik, before another infringement from O’Callaghan – this time an offside – allowed Humphreys to extend the lead to 12 points from a good 40 metres. Keatley opened the Munster account on 24 minutes after a high tackle from Gilroy, and – after some amateur pugilism between Williams and O’Callaghan – a great interchange between Denis Hurley and Ronan O’Mahony set free newly-capped Ireland international Robin Copeland for a breakaway try on the half-hour. The Munster out-half’s indifferent kicking form continued as his conversion attempt sailed wide, but more impressive running from van der Heever kept Ulster under pressure and grateful to hear referee Ian Davies’ whistle herald half-time. Half-Time Score Munster 8 Ulster 12 Unfortunately for Ulster, it was more of the same at the start of the second half, as scrum-half Duncan Williams improvised well to pick up at the base of a static Munster scrum, evade Marshall’s attempted challenge and slide in by the left-hand corner flag on 43 minutes. This time Keatley was spot-on with his conversion as he edged his side three points ahead, then doubled and tripled the advantage on 52 and 55 minutes with his second and third successful penalties of the encounter. However a drop-goal attempt from the out-half on the hour mark just failed to bend between the posts, and a resurgent Ulster built well for multiple phases, with Robbie Diack, a recent entrant for Reidy, making an impression from the bench. However the move broke down with no points to show for Ulster’s efforts, and after an extremely close shave with JJ Hanrahan just losing control of the ball as he attempted to touch down under Olding’s tackle, the visitors were again fortunate to see another Keatley penalty rebound off the upright. With 10 minutes remaining and as many points required to snatch the victory, Ulster clawed back three through a Humphreys penalty after Stephen Archer had been sinbinned for taking out van der Merwe at the lineout. The next Munster lineout saw a severe overthrow from Duncan Casey gift possession back to the visitors, and as Ulster mauled from a subsequent lineout of their own, the TMO ruled that Wilson had just failed to ground in the corner on 78 minutes. Referee Ian Davies brought play back for a , however, and as Ulster mauled again, this time Williams had the power to drive over the whitewash and touch down to reduce the gap to a single point. The high drama continued as Humphreys’ conversion drifted agonisingly wide of the posts and, although Ulster retained the ball well into the 83^rd minute of play, there was no way through the Munster defence. Ulster’s quest for Pro12 glory will now take a break for two weeks, as back-to-back clashes with the Scarlets – at the Kingspan Stadium on Saturday 6 December, and the Parc y Scarlets the following Sunday – will see them focus on progression in the European Rugby Champions Cup. Full-Time Score Munster 21 Ulster 20 Munster (15 – 9) JJ Hanrahan; G van der Heever, P Howard, D Hurley, R O’Mahony; I Keatley, D Williams (1 – 8) J Ryan, D Casey, BJ Botha, D O’Callaghan (c), B Holland, R Copeland, P Butler, CJ Stander Replacements (16 – 23) K O’Byrne, D Kilcoyne, S Archer, T O’Donnell, S Dougal, N Cronin, A Smith, F Jones Ulster (15 – 9) S Olding; L Ludik, D Cave, S McCloskey, C Gilroy; I Humphreys, P Marshall (1 – 8) C Black, R Best (c), W Herbst, A O’Connor, F van der Merwe, R Wilson, S Reidy, N Williams Replacements (16 – 23) R Herring, A Warwick, D Fitzpatrick, L Stevenson, R Diack, M Heaney, M Allen, P Nelson