A brace of tries from fullback Stewart Moore within the space of eight minutes of each other late in the first half set up Ulster for a surprisingly one-sided 36-17 win over Munster in their Vodacom United Rugby Championship quarterfinal at Kingspan Stadium in Belfast on Friday.
The win was sweet revenge for Ulster, as they had lost twice to Munster in the regular season, the most recent defeat coming just a few weeks ago at the Kingspan, where they had not lost to those opponents since 2016.
Ulster put it together when it mattered though, scoring five tries to three and being full value for their 19 point winning margin as their backs in particular had the Munster defenders chasing shadows with the precision of their passing and angles of running.
It was close initially and Munster, playing for what it turned out would be the last time under the coaching of former Springbok assistant coach Johann van Graan, gave as good as they got in the first quarter even though they conceded a silly first try.
That score came in the 11th minute and came via a quick tap penalty that scrumhalf John Cooney took off a pass from centre James Hume while some of the Munster forwards were involved in a dust-up with Ulster players a good distance away.
Former Stormers lock Jean Kleyn drove over for a try for Munster eight minutes later to level the scores with the Joey Carbery conversion, and then Munster went back onto attack in search of their second.
However, the Ulster backs were brilliant in putting together a training ground move from a lineout at the halfway, with Robert Baloucone making the incision and break that created the extra man and the move was carried on by left wing Ethan McIlroy before the ball was transferred inside for fullback Moore to score his first try.
Eight minutes later Ulster showed equal precision and incisiveness as their angles of running and good passing and switches of direction created the space they needed for Moore to cross for his second.
Suddenly what was a close game became a 19-7 lead to Ulster and Munster found themselves chasing the game.
It was already a long way back for Munster at the halfway mark of the game, but it became an even longer road back two minutes into the second half when the excellent centre James Hume made the break off another move that started at a lineout near the halfway and he sent flanker Nick Timoney in for the score to make it 26-7.
Cooney then added a penalty to stretch the deficit to 22 so when Keith Earls dived over for a spectacular try on the corner flag after the Munster forwards had driven the ball up a few times within the opposition 22, it really was a case of too little too late.
And Hume confirmed that when he capped his own fine performance by scoring the try that took the hosts beyond the 30 mark.
Earls scored a second try in the last 10 minutes but the fightback Munster have become renowned for was always going to be in vain, with their litany of handling errors throughout the game preventing them from getting the attacking momentum they needed if they were to stay in the competition.
Ulster will now wait for the result of Saturday night’s quarterfinal between the DHL Stormers and Edinburgh in Cape Town on Saturday night before they know who their semifinal opponents will be and where the game will be played.
If the Stormers win, Ulster will be heading to Cape Town, while they will travel to Scotland if Edinburgh manage to end the Cape team’s challenge.
Scores
Ulster 36 – Tries: John Cooney, Stewart Moore 2, Nick Timoney and James Hume; Conversions: John Cooney 3 and Nathan Doake; Penalty: John Cooney.
Munster 17 – Tries: Jean Kleyn, Keith Earls 2; Conversion: Joey Carbery.