Ulster A, sponsored by CD Group, recorded a hard fought win over Munster A at Banbridge Academy on Thursday afternoon, as both sides used the game as a warm-up for their respective British & Irish Cup quarter-finals on Easter weekend.
Ulster A 24 Munster A 19
Ulster started the contest strongly, pressing Munster back with accurate control from the pack as they created a solid platform for David Shanahan and Peter Nelson to build from. In the 6th minute the home side had taken the ball through a number of phases and were moving play wide when the Munster fullback Stephen Fitzgerald read the play and intercepted on his 22 then sprinted clear to score under the posts at the other end. Munster captain Dave Johnston converted the extras to give the visitors an early 7 point lead.
Ulster kept plugging away and kept to their game plan. In the 25th minute David Shanahan attacked the blind side from a ruck on the Munster 22. The scrum half passed to Peter Nelson who did well to draw the defender then put Jack Owens clear to score in the corner. Nelson added the extras to tie the score at 7 points apiece.
With 4 minutes remaining in the first half the home side struck again. They again built steady pressure on the visitors defence though a number of phases, then Marcus Rea burst through a gap in front of the posts to power his way to the line, reaching for the whitewash for a great finish. Nelson added the conversion to give the Ulster men a 14-7 lead.
Munster had one last attack in the final minute when hooker Rhys Marshall picked up and raced clear into the Ulster 22. The home side infringed at the ruck and Munster kicked for the corner to set up a catch and drive. Great Ulster defence at the lineout from young Jack Regan turned the ball over and Shanahan dispatch the ball to touch to complete the first 40 minutes.
Ulster made the better start to the second half and were awarded a penalty for a no arms tackle in front of the Munster posts in the 46th minute. Nelson converted to take the Ulster men 17-7 clear.
Nelson was controlling the game well and his kicking game in particular was a pleasure to behold. In the 60th minute a pin-point kick into the left-hand corner found touch a metre shy of the Munster line. From there the home side attacked but were held out by a very determined Munster defence. After a series of 5 metre scrums the referee warned the visiting front row to scrum straight and square, but after the fourth reset and infringement by Munster trio the referee awarded Ulster a penalty try, taking them 24-7 clear.
Munster to their credit never gave up and after kicking a penalty into the left-hand corner the executed a perfect catch and drive which was scored by replacement hooker Taghg McCarthy. This score went unconverted to close the gap to 24-12.
Ulster seemed to let their concentration slip and Munster were right back in the contest 5 minutes later when replacement centre Jack Power intercepted a pass to Jack Owens and raced clear to score. Dave Johnston added the conversion to make it 24-19.
Ulster impressed in the final 10 minutes showing real determination in defence. They managed to soak up a lot of Munster pressure with Clive Ross working hard to win a penalty in front of their posts. In the final play Munster won a penalty and kicked for the right-hand corner, this time Ross managed to gather the over-throw and Nelson dispatched the ball to touch to finish the game.
After the game a delighted Ulster A coach Kieran Campbell said, “Yes I am delighted, it shows the resolve, the spirit and the resilience which is building in this Ulster A team.
“You know we built a nice lead through the game but it would be nice to have been a little bit more comfortable at the end but in fairness to Munster as they do, they stuck at it, and made it as tight as possible going into the last five minutes. But it was really exciting was that last period of defence by us is something which sort of shows, and encapsulates where this A team has got to with that hugely important turnover which won us the game, and I think that's the type of resolve we've got to take to Bedford in a few weeks and that was down to us.
“We had a plan to play expansively, we know how hard Munster defend, they like to go quite high on the edges through the wingers and fullback, so we thought we might be able to actually use it as a strength for us and get over it. Unfortunately our pass was a little low and it got intercepted which was a shame considering the level pressure we had built on them, and we were playing with great tempo at that stage.
“It then took us a little bit time then to recover. However, the boys again did really well, built a nice level pressure on the opposition, were a little bit more accurate on what we did with the ball and scored two very good tries, and the one just before halftime I think gives us a lot of belief.
“I know Munster felt the same way about this game it was hugely important as our preparation for going into Bedford and like all into-pros we all want to win. So there's never a lack of competition between two provincial sides but I think we were trying to tick the scoreboard over the same as if we were away from home and at Bedford to try and build a lead and knowing how to do that against teams like the quality of Munster, or the Bedford team we are going to face. We are going to have periods when they a going to exert pressure on us and we've got to have that ability to build leads and build pressure on the opposition and to enable us to win these games.
“I actually thought that the guys played really well outside of that 10-minute period in the second half. I think they just liked to make it a little bit difficult for me and Willie (Anderson) to relax. The lads after the match pointed out that we cannot afford to have those 10-minute periods when we slump, you know that little period is something we need to eradicate from what we're doing and particularly if we have any intention of winning our quarterfinal against Bedford."
Ulster A
Forwards; 1 Tommy O'Hagan, 2 Adam McBurney, 3 Ross Kane, 4 Peter Browne, 5 Jack Regan, 6 Marcus Rea, 7 Clive Ross, 8 Greg Jones
Backs; 9 Dave Shanahan, 10 Peter Nelson, 11 Jack Owens, 12 Chris Swash, 13 Callum Patterson, 14 Aaron Cairns, 15 David Busby.
Replacements:
16 Zack McCall, 17 Eric O'Sullivan, 18 Zack Ward, 19 Caleb Montgomery, 20 Azur Allison, 21 Graham Curtis, 22 Brett Herron, 23 Stewart Moore.
Munster A
Forwards; 1 Jeremy Loughman, 2 Rhys Marshall, 3 Ciaran Parker, 4 Sean Duffy, 5 Sean O'Conner, 6 Mickey Wilson, 7 Jack Daly, 8 Gavin Coombes
Backs; 9 John Poland, 10 Alan Tynan, 11 Ronan O'Mahony, 12 Alex McHenry, 13 Dave Johnston (Captain), 14 Calvin Nash, 15 Stephen Fitzgerald.
Replacements; 16 Tagdh McCarthy, 17 Joey Conway, 18 Rob O'Donovan, 19 Thomas Ahern, 20 John Hodnett, 21 Colin Sisk, 22 Jack Power, 23 Liam Coombes.
Ulster A 24 Munster A 19
Ulster started the contest strongly, pressing Munster back with accurate control from the pack as they created a solid platform for David Shanahan and Peter Nelson to build from. In the 6th minute the home side had taken the ball through a number of phases and were moving play wide when the Munster fullback Stephen Fitzgerald read the play and intercepted on his 22 then sprinted clear to score under the posts at the other end. Munster captain Dave Johnston converted the extras to give the visitors an early 7 point lead.
Ulster kept plugging away and kept to their game plan. In the 25th minute David Shanahan attacked the blind side from a ruck on the Munster 22. The scrum half passed to Peter Nelson who did well to draw the defender then put Jack Owens clear to score in the corner. Nelson added the extras to tie the score at 7 points apiece.
With 4 minutes remaining in the first half the home side struck again. They again built steady pressure on the visitors defence though a number of phases, then Marcus Rea burst through a gap in front of the posts to power his way to the line, reaching for the whitewash for a great finish. Nelson added the conversion to give the Ulster men a 14-7 lead.
Munster had one last attack in the final minute when hooker Rhys Marshall picked up and raced clear into the Ulster 22. The home side infringed at the ruck and Munster kicked for the corner to set up a catch and drive. Great Ulster defence at the lineout from young Jack Regan turned the ball over and Shanahan dispatch the ball to touch to complete the first 40 minutes.
Ulster made the better start to the second half and were awarded a penalty for a no arms tackle in front of the Munster posts in the 46th minute. Nelson converted to take the Ulster men 17-7 clear.
Nelson was controlling the game well and his kicking game in particular was a pleasure to behold. In the 60th minute a pin-point kick into the left-hand corner found touch a metre shy of the Munster line. From there the home side attacked but were held out by a very determined Munster defence. After a series of 5 metre scrums the referee warned the visiting front row to scrum straight and square, but after the fourth reset and infringement by Munster trio the referee awarded Ulster a penalty try, taking them 24-7 clear.
This penalty try puts Ulster A 24-7 ahead with 20 mins to play. pic.twitter.com/i32frMHxIm
— Ulster Rugby (@UlsterRugby) March 15, 2018
Munster to their credit never gave up and after kicking a penalty into the left-hand corner the executed a perfect catch and drive which was scored by replacement hooker Taghg McCarthy. This score went unconverted to close the gap to 24-12.
Ulster seemed to let their concentration slip and Munster were right back in the contest 5 minutes later when replacement centre Jack Power intercepted a pass to Jack Owens and raced clear to score. Dave Johnston added the conversion to make it 24-19.
Ulster impressed in the final 10 minutes showing real determination in defence. They managed to soak up a lot of Munster pressure with Clive Ross working hard to win a penalty in front of their posts. In the final play Munster won a penalty and kicked for the right-hand corner, this time Ross managed to gather the over-throw and Nelson dispatched the ball to touch to finish the game.
After the game a delighted Ulster A coach Kieran Campbell said, “Yes I am delighted, it shows the resolve, the spirit and the resilience which is building in this Ulster A team.
“You know we built a nice lead through the game but it would be nice to have been a little bit more comfortable at the end but in fairness to Munster as they do, they stuck at it, and made it as tight as possible going into the last five minutes. But it was really exciting was that last period of defence by us is something which sort of shows, and encapsulates where this A team has got to with that hugely important turnover which won us the game, and I think that's the type of resolve we've got to take to Bedford in a few weeks and that was down to us.
“We had a plan to play expansively, we know how hard Munster defend, they like to go quite high on the edges through the wingers and fullback, so we thought we might be able to actually use it as a strength for us and get over it. Unfortunately our pass was a little low and it got intercepted which was a shame considering the level pressure we had built on them, and we were playing with great tempo at that stage.
“It then took us a little bit time then to recover. However, the boys again did really well, built a nice level pressure on the opposition, were a little bit more accurate on what we did with the ball and scored two very good tries, and the one just before halftime I think gives us a lot of belief.
“I know Munster felt the same way about this game it was hugely important as our preparation for going into Bedford and like all into-pros we all want to win. So there's never a lack of competition between two provincial sides but I think we were trying to tick the scoreboard over the same as if we were away from home and at Bedford to try and build a lead and knowing how to do that against teams like the quality of Munster, or the Bedford team we are going to face. We are going to have periods when they a going to exert pressure on us and we've got to have that ability to build leads and build pressure on the opposition and to enable us to win these games.
“I actually thought that the guys played really well outside of that 10-minute period in the second half. I think they just liked to make it a little bit difficult for me and Willie (Anderson) to relax. The lads after the match pointed out that we cannot afford to have those 10-minute periods when we slump, you know that little period is something we need to eradicate from what we're doing and particularly if we have any intention of winning our quarterfinal against Bedford."
Ulster A
Forwards; 1 Tommy O'Hagan, 2 Adam McBurney, 3 Ross Kane, 4 Peter Browne, 5 Jack Regan, 6 Marcus Rea, 7 Clive Ross, 8 Greg Jones
Backs; 9 Dave Shanahan, 10 Peter Nelson, 11 Jack Owens, 12 Chris Swash, 13 Callum Patterson, 14 Aaron Cairns, 15 David Busby.
Replacements:
16 Zack McCall, 17 Eric O'Sullivan, 18 Zack Ward, 19 Caleb Montgomery, 20 Azur Allison, 21 Graham Curtis, 22 Brett Herron, 23 Stewart Moore.
Munster A
Forwards; 1 Jeremy Loughman, 2 Rhys Marshall, 3 Ciaran Parker, 4 Sean Duffy, 5 Sean O'Conner, 6 Mickey Wilson, 7 Jack Daly, 8 Gavin Coombes
Backs; 9 John Poland, 10 Alan Tynan, 11 Ronan O'Mahony, 12 Alex McHenry, 13 Dave Johnston (Captain), 14 Calvin Nash, 15 Stephen Fitzgerald.
Replacements; 16 Tagdh McCarthy, 17 Joey Conway, 18 Rob O'Donovan, 19 Thomas Ahern, 20 John Hodnett, 21 Colin Sisk, 22 Jack Power, 23 Liam Coombes.