February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Going into the 77th, Leinster had clawed their way back to within 19-13 and were camped on the Munster line, a converted try away from the win. Munster were defending with vigor, but they needed the generosity of referee Alan Lewis’s whistle at times to flop across the line. That they eventually did, as Leinster just about ran out of track, in Munster’s 19-13 victory.
Munster now lie in second place in the Celtic League, a point behind increasingly bitter rivals the Neath-Swansea Ospreys, whom they face this coming Saturday in Pool Four of the Heineken Cup. With bad blood still bubbling between the sides ever since their hot-tempered meeting before Christmas — after which Munster prop Marcus Horan had to face allegations of racism, for which he was exonerated in an enquiry — their proximity at the top of the table, well clear of the rest, will likely add spice to proceedings at Thomond Park.
As if Munster’s game are ever in need of added spice. This win over Leinster on New Year’s Day was of a piece with most Munster wins these days: a ferocious and relentless performance by their forwards, an afternoon when their back three of Christian Cullen, Anthony Horgan and Shaun Payne may as well have been lying at home hung over and watching “The Great Escape.” Two tries — one from Frankie Sheahan and one from Horan — and no end of hard yards eked out by Anthony Foley, Alan Quinlan and the untouchable Paul O’Connell, set them up for what was looking like a routine win with 15 minutes to go.
But then (and only then) did Leinster stir into life. David Holwell kicked a neat penalty to bring the margin back to a much more manageable 13 points, and then the previously uninvolved Leinster backline got going. Brian O’Driscoll, Gordon D’Arcy and Girvan Dempsey combined cleverly to stretch the home defence out to the left, and when the ball came back the other way, Victor Costello and Ben Gissing did well to send Eric Miller in in the corner. Holwell’s excellent conversion from the touchline set up the cymbal-crash endgame but the red line held firm.
ULSTER 23, CONNACHT 14
Ravenhill, Belfast
With this result, Ulster went a little of the way to sparing the IRFU’s blushes as much as their own. Although the sports governing body in Ireland has reserved the right to nominate whichever teams they wish to next season’s Heineken Cup, were Connacht to finish ahead of the northern province in the Celtic League, the union would be put in an embarrassing position. For one of the unions benighted provinces to be bested by the one they tried to disband a couple of years ago really would have left people wondering whether the rugby crowd had been taking tips from the FAI. It still remains a possibility, but at least with this win at Ravenhill in Belfast, Ulster have moved above Michael Bradley’s men.
Once again, Ulster had David Humphreys to thank for dragging them out of the mire. The out-half kicked impeccably for his 13 points and was also integral to both of Ulster’s tries. In the first half, he pirouetted daintily through midfield and fed Paul Steinmetz out on the right before Steinmetz’s kick through was latched onto gleefully by wing Tommy Bowe. In the second, Humphreys’s brilliantly disguised chip through wasn’t dealt with by Connacht and this time it was Steinmetz who pounced to score.
All Connacht had in reply was a fine performance from out-half Paul Warwick, the man most responsible for their fine run in the European Challenge Cup. With three converted penalties his kicking kept them in touch and when hooker Bernard Jackman rolled over for a second-half try, the score stood at just 20-14 in Ulster’s favor, leaving a barely deserved bonus point on the cards for Connacht. A late Humphreys penalty put paid to that, however.