Ulster Under 18 Schools recorded an opening day bonus-point win over Munster following a classic ding-dong affair on Saturday afternoon at the Affidea Stadium on a 33-26 scoreline.
Daryl Maxwell’s side recovered from a nervous opening to outscore their opponents by five tries to four in a contest that went to the wire.
After falling behind early on, the Ulster lads stormed to a commanding 14-point half-time lead, before showing great composure in the final quarter to regroup to claim the winning try after Munster had pegged them back to level the game going into the final quarter.
Munster wasted no time in settling into the game and Ulster were lucky to survive as early as the 2nd minute, but luckily Lucas Mckeown was able to prevent Munster winger Alex Bramoulle from moving the ball left where the visitors had a three-on-one overlap.
But it wasn’t long before Munster were rewarded for their positive start.
From a lineout inside Ulster’s 22, the Munster pack flexed their muscles to power over for the game’s opening try in the 5th minute with Leo Carmen claiming the vital touchdown.
Matthew McCarthy made no mistake with the conversion to hand the visitors the early initiative.
Ulster took their time to settle into the contest but a Dylan Grey line break in the 15th minute proved to be the opening half’s big turning point.
Gray collected a pass from Ulster number 10 Jonnie Kennedy following an Ulster scrum on halfway and he carried powerfully into the Munster 22.
The ball was then fed to winger Jack Thompson who with the line at his mercy selflessly popped a pass to number eight, James Reid who crashed over from close range for Ulster’s opening try.
Jonnie Kennedy drilled over the conversion to level matters at 7-7.
Ulster were now in the ascendency and just four minutes later they took the lead.
Kennedy pinged a penalty deep into Munster territory, and from the resulting lineout it was the turn of the Ulster pack to maul their way to the Munster line where hooker David Nelson touched down for Ulster’s second try of the day.
It was to get worse for Munster when after the concession of several penalties, number eight Ronan Dillon was sent to the sin bin for 10 minutes.
Ulster soon made use of their numerical advantage in the 27th minute when Will Downey claimed Ulster’s third try. The home side showing great composure by going through the phases to eventually exploit a gap in the visitor’s defence and send his side in with a 14-point lead at the break.
Half-time: Ulster 21-7 Munster
Ulster continued to dominate proceedings at the beginning of the second half, and it wasn’t soon before they were rewarded for their positive play.
Flanker James Flannagan was hauled down just short of the Munster line, but with the ball quickly recycled, Kennedy’s long pass found centre Lucas McKeown who crossed the whitewash for Ulster’s fourth try.
It left Ulster with what was beginning to look like an unassailable lead, but the Munster lads had other ideas, and with nothing to lose, they threw caution to the wind.
Adam Bennett charged down an Ulster clearance, and the winger was first to the loose ball to claim a second Munster.
McCarthy converted. But the visitor’s still trailed by 12-points, 26-14, but that was all soon to change.
Just three minutes after Bennett’s try, Munster fly-half Conal Rowen kicked a 50:22. And just like in the first half, the Munster pack powered their way towards the Ulster line.
This time though the Ulster defence were equal to Munster’s advance’s, however, when Munster recycled the ball to their backs, centre Jack Hayes was on hand to claim his sides third try of the day.
All the momentum was with the visitors now, and some lovely approach play down the left was rewarded with try number four.
Bennett made the initial break, and he was supported by scrumhalf Tiernan Murphy.
Murphy showed some great footwork to evade the Ulster defence before passing to William Powell who stormed over to level the tie at 26-all with 15 minutes still to play.
It was all to play for now, and there was a feeling that the next score could prove to be the decisive one. And that turned out to be the case.
The industrious Harry Wells kick down the line earned Ulster some much needed territory and at the same time, pinned Munster down deep in their own half.
Ulster put the Munster defence under severe pressure and won a vital turnover. The home side took full advantage and eventually worked the ball out wide for full-back Gray to crash over to put the Ulster men back in front.
Kennedy added a successful conversion to edge Ulster ahead by seven with 10 minutes to play.
In the final minutes both sides went chasing the score that would either seal the win or salvage a draw, but in the end the Ulster defence stood tall to claim a deserving win after an enthralling game of rugby.
Full-time: Ulster 33-26 Munster
Scorers:
Ulster:
Tries – Reid, Nelson, Downey, McKeown, Gray,
Cons – Kennedy (4)
Munster:
Tries – Carmen, Bennett, Hayes, Powell
Cons – McCarthy (3)
Teams
Ulster Rugby:
15. Dylan Gray, 14. Harry Wells, 13. Lucas McKeown, 12. Will Rogers, 11. Jack Thompson, 10. Jonnie Kennedy, 9. Rocco Steen, 1. Adam Crone, 2. David Nelson, 3. Conor McKinney, 4. Will Downey, 5. Oscar Eddis, 6. Elliot Magowan, 7. James Flannagan, 8. James Reid.
Replacements:
16. Issac Crawford, 17. Matthew Watkins, 18. Reuban Gibson, 19. Elijah Fitzpatrick, 20. Ben Ellis, 21. Alex Turkington, 22. Jack Best, 23. Zach Thompson.
Munster Rugby:
15. Hugh Downey, 14. Alex Bramoulle, 13. Matthew McCarthy, 12. Jack Hayes, 11, Adam Bennett, 10. Conal Rowen, 9. Tiernan Murphy, 1. William Powell, 2. Leo Carmen, 3. Kyle Yoxall, 4. David Fitzpatrick, 5. Mark Whelton, 6. Sean Ryan, 7. Robert Carrigan, 8. Ronan Dillon.
Replacements:
16. Oisin Gleeson, 17. Jay Walsh, 18. Bobby Meagher, 19. Jacob Sweetnam, 20. Connor Ryan, 21. Oliver Cantrell, 22. Jos Keating, 23. Gearoid Hickey.