Munster ran into one of the best forward packs in European rugby on Saint Stephen’s Day. On New Year’s Day, it initially looked like they ran through one of the worst.
After getting utterly dominated by an ever improving Connacht side last week, Ulster sought redemption. They needed to restore some pride.
The Connacht pack had made a mockery of their maul defence and they were welcoming a Munster side to Belfast that have a decorated history of decimating opposing packs with their maul.
Unsurprisingly, both of Munster’s first-half tries came from the set-piece where a pack without CJ Stander and Peter O’Mahony drove their way through a porous Ulster defence.
Niall Scannell touched down across the line both times and exerted a kind of primal dominance that was akin to a man that had come into another person’s home, taken a shit in the toilet without flushing, left the door open, and challenged anyone in the house to put some manners on him.
At one stage after winning a penalty from a scrum on the Ulster five metre line, Scannell clapped his hands together like an alligator closing its mouth before he went on to yell out some obscenities.
The Ulster players looked like they were doing something similar, albeit in a much quieter tone, but there was not much they could do to repel a dominant Munster pack.
There was no hiding places for the Ulster forwards. At the scrum they were monstered. Whenever Munster took the ball down for a maul, they absorbed the initial hit, before peeling off and driving over.
At the breakdown, Chris Cloete was once again fantastic. He tackles low, he tackles high, but he gets over the top of the ball, or at least tries to, after just about every tackle.
Jack O’Donoghue was also very impressive in the absence of CJ Stander by leading the pack in both carries and tackles.
With Stander such an instrumental part of the Munster setup, it will be hard for him to find consistent gametime at the back of the scrum, but he looks to be improving with every start and has proven to be a solid option at the line-out.
He also showed some leadership in the absence of Billy Holland who left the field in the 23rd minute with a head injury. He did not return after he failed his HIA.
When Sam Arnold was dismissed in the 59th minute for nearly decapitating Christian Lealiifano, their game was thrown upside down and became even more forward orientated, at times to their own detriment.
With over 15 minutes to go and with their pack burrowing their way forward, they started to become predictable and seemed determined to bully their way over the line through sheer force.
However, Ulster defended bravely and hit back through Darren Cave and then through Craig Gilroy. Les Kiss’ side really have some special backs and Lealiifano drives them around the park when he has front-foot ball.
He calls plays off the ruck, he sets the tempo and he mercilessly exploits gaps on the outside.
His pack provided him with a much better platform in the second-half as Nick Timoney and Jean Deysel started to get over the gainline.
Once Ulster found traction on the ground, and with Munster down to 14, Leallifano was able to maneuver around more freely and without the threat of having his jaw displaced.
With Munster under pressure, the Wallabies playmaker found Craig Gilroy on the wing with a dubious pass to seal what was essentially the match winning score before Rob Lyttle added the nail in the coffin by showing some blistering pace down the left sideline.
It was a much needed win for Ulster and Les Kiss after a hazardous few months. Without Rory Best, Iain Henderson and Marcell Coetzee, the pack managed to restore their pride after they were battered in the first-half.
Lealiifano will be sorely missed by this side when he returns to Australia at the end of this month, but that’s next month’s problem.
Next week Ulster have Leinster where they can head to the RDS with a spring in their step following a week where they looked like they were stuck in the mud.
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