With two minutes left at Ravenhill, it appeared that 14-man Ulster had pulled off a stunning rescue act, only for the men in red to deliver a Christmas sucker-punch right at the death.
Tom O’Toole’s 30th minute red card looked like it would make it a long night for Ulster, who fell agonisingly short in the last play of the game when Munster’s outstanding centre Tom Farrell completed a stunning hat-trick, and with it, a remarkable derby victory.
Munster were left breathing a major sigh of relief, as they got out of jail, but this priceless win lifts them back into the play-off spots for now at least, and condemns Ulster to a fifth defeat on the bounce.
O’Toole went from hero to zero as his early try was followed by a red card. Referee Ben Whitehouse, in consultation with his TMO, ruled that O’Toole had “dropped all of his weight onto the exposed leg” of Alex Nankivell, who will be lucky if he has avoided a serious injury.
Munster’s influential Kiwi centre attempted to play on, but he looked in a lot of discomfort before he was unsurprisingly replaced, as O’Toole was left to rue his actions for the remainder of the game.
Given that both teams came into his derby with mounting injury lists, they could ill-afford to add to it, but Nankivell was joined by team-mates Fineen Wycherley and Dave Kilcoyne in being forced off, while Ulster lost Stuart McCloskey and Zac Ward in a first-half that they had led 7-5 despite the carnage.
Farrell’s hat-trick along with Shane Daly’s try just about cancelled out Ulster’s tries courtesy of O’Toole, Harry Sheridan and James McNabney, as Munster’s big defensive effort was just about enough.
Munster’s sloppy start bore all the same hallmarks as last week’s turgid affair in Castres, as a litany of errors, including another missed Jack Crowley kick to touch, botched lineouts, and four penalty concessions inside the opening seven minutes allowed Ulster to capitalise.
The hosts were much brighter early, pulling and probing the Munster defence, which eventually folded. A second five-metre tap penalty did the damage as O’Toole powered under the posts from close range.
John Cooney added the easy extras for a 7-0 lead, as Munster’s error count continued to rise. Captain for the night Jack O’Donoghue ran ahead of Crowley from the restart, while Wycherley knocked on.
Michael Lowry was a real threat every time he got on the ball, and the Ulster full-back sparked another attack, which ended in frustration fashion for his side after Kieran Treadwell was penalised for a croc-roll inside the Munster 22.
A third lost lineout summed up Munster’s inaccuracy before they hit back against the run of play after 27 minutes.
Ward had just been forced off, which forced a reshuffle in the Ulster back-line, and Munster took full advantage. Calvin Nash’s strong counter-attack put them into a good position, and with Crowley pulling the strings, Munster worked the ball to the opposite side of the pitch, where Mike Haley and Shane Daly linked brilliantly to release Farrell, who still had plenty of work to do to finish in the corner.
Crowley couldn’t convert from out wide, but things quickly went from bad to worse for Ulster, as O’Toole was shown a red card for his offence on Nankivell, who was soon followed off injured by his opposite number McCloskey to force a second backline switch, as Jack Murphy came on at out-half and Aidan Morgan moved to midfield.
At the end of all the chaos, Ulster were glad to head into the break 7-5 to the good, knowing the uphill task O’Toole had left them after the restart. Rather than wait to call upon fresh legs, Costello made four changes (one enforced) inside the opening nine minutes of the second-half, and that decision paid off.
Crowley’s pin-point cross-field kick found Farrell, who had given the attack width on the right touchline, and the centre did well to pass back inside for Haley, who returned the favour by brilliantly offloading off the deck for Farrell to run clear and score a fine second try.
The difficult touchline conversion again proved too much for Crowley, but as Munster went in front for the first time, it was now all about pressing home their numerical advantage.
It didn’t initially pan out like that, however, as some gutsy last-ditch defence twice held Ulster up over the line, denying them a try on each occasion. That gave Ulster their second-wind and although they were briefly playing with 13 players, as Marcus Rea was down receiving treatment, they continued to ask questions of the 15-man Munster defence, which was reduced to 14 when Rory Scannell was yellow-carded for a tackle off the ball.
With the playing numbers even again, Ulster made their pressure count, as the pack did all the damage up front, which paved the way for Harry Sheridan to burrow his way over.
Cooney’s conversion came back off the post, but leading 12-10 with 15 minutes remaining, Ulster now had something to hang on to, only they couldn’t.
Almost straight from the restart, Munster again struck out wide, with Nash and Farrell combining to send Daly away in the corner. Crowley’s wayward radar meant Munster had to settle for a slender 15-12 advantage.
They almost coughed up the lead when Scott Wilson went on a rampaging run before Munster’s scramble defence again came to rescue. Ulster had another glorious chance to retake the lead, but they opted for the corner instead of a kickable shot at goal before Evan O’Connell stole the lineout.
But back came Ulster again, McNabney’s converted try looking like it had won the game for Ulster before Farrell completed his hat-trick to snatch a dramatic victory. Ulster: M Lowry; W Kok, J Postlethwaite, S McCloskey (J Murphy 39), Z Ward (R Telfer 26) (S Wilson 34); A Morgan, J Cooney; A Warwick (E O’Sullivan 63), R Herring (J Andrew 58), T O’Toole; A O’Connor (capt), K Treadwell (H Sheridan 61); J McNabney, Marcus Rea (Matty Rea 68), D McCann. Munster: M Haley; C Nash, T Farrell, A Nankivell (R Scannell 34), S Daly; J Crowley, P Patterson (E Coughlan 45-58, 68); J Ryan (D Kilcoyne 49-68), N Scannell, S Archer (O Jager 49); T Ahern, F Wycherley (B Gleeson 60); J O’Donoghue (capt) (E O’Connell 49), J Hodnett (A Kendellen 58), G Coombes. Ref: B Whitehouse (Wales)
Jack Murphy went back against the grain to set the platform for his pack to attack the line with a series of pick-and-go phases. With advantage in their favour, James McNabney keeps a low body height to brute his way over the whitewash.
Cooney’s kick means Munster need a try.
Farrell breaks – running 80 metres only to see his pass intercepted by Kok.
Maybe they should have aimed for the posts?
Penalty Ulster. Tap and go time