Munster fortress breached

First win at Thomond Park by visiting Irish side since 1995

Last updated: 4th January 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Munster fortress breached

Humphreys: Man of the match

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Ulster have become the first Irish team to beat Munster at Thomond Park in over 13 years after scoring a 37-11 win on Saturday.

Paddy Wallace, Darren Cave, Mark McCrea, Tom Court and Andrew Trimble all touched down for Ulster as they achieved a feat last seen when Leinster won there in December 1995.

The result also scuppered the Heineken Cup champions' bid to move back to the top of the Magners League.

A man-of-the-match performance from fly-half Ian Humphreys, who contributed 12 points, enhanced his chances of featuring in Ireland's Six Nations squad.

It was a night to forget for the home side, with knock-ons and poor decision making undermining their play, while Ronan O'Gara and Rua Tipoki both limped off with injuries.

Ulster looked up for the fight from the kick-off, putting together phases and threatening on the wings through Timoci Nagusa and Cave.

Nevertheless, Tipoki, playing for the first time since sustaining ligament damage against New Zealand, showed some neat touches for Munster.

But when an O'Gara grubber kick was blocked down on the Ulster 22, the visitors fashioned a breakaway try.

Stephen Ferris gathered the loose ball and found Nigel Brady and although the hooker's pass on the 10-metre line to Wallace appeared forward, referee Alan Lewis allowed play to continue and the Ulster centre went in under the posts.

Humphreys kicked the extras to leave Munster struggling - O'Gara pushing a penalty attempt wide before he departed with a hamstring injury.

Impressive

The impressive Humphreys moved Ulster 10-0 ahead before O'Gara's replacement, Paul Warwick, kicked a 20th-minute penalty to finally get Munster on the scoreboard.

Warwick's line kicking gained Munster territory but Matt Williams' side proved solid in the lineout and showed more commitment at the breakdown.

Ulster went further ahead nine minutes from the break when Humphreys' well-weighted kick out to the left bounced perfectly for the onrushing Cave to slip through to score.

The influential Humphreys converted before Warwick replied with a penalty.

However, the visitors were hungry for more points and their adventure was again rewarded in first half injury-time when an offload from Humphreys freed up replacement McCrea to go over in the right corner.

Munster were therefore 22-6 down at half-time - the sight of Tipoki limping off only serving to add to their woes.

Ulster earned their bonus point just six minutes into the second half when prop Court burrowed over for a converted try.

Federico Pucciariello and Matt McCullough then both saw yellow for an off-the-ball clash and Ulster were down to 13 players when stand-in captain Kieron Dawson was also sin-binned for a deliberate offside.

Humphreys had already kicked another penalty, with Munster gaining consolation with a Warwick-inspired try for Doug Howlett - Ulster's Stephen Ferris and Paul Steinmetz having denied Kieran Lewis a certain try.

Munster conceded another try five minutes from time when Trimble touched down after following up on a chip through from Humphreys.