Munster came up short on the road against Ulster on Friday night with out half Bill Johnston rescuing a losing bonus point with the last kick of the game slotting a fine penalty.
There can be no arguing with Ulster – outscoring their counterparts by 3 tries to 1- deserved the win, but the landscape of the game could have been very different had Robert Baloucoune received a red card for the hit on Darren Sweetnam direct from the opening kick off.
The tackle seemed to tick all the boxes of a red card but was somehow only deemed a yellow card offence by referee Sean Gallagher. It promises to be another interesting week from the disciplinary panel as the tackle is likely to see further sanction for the Ulster winger.
JJ Hanrahan opened proceedings with a penalty for Munster. Rob Herring scoring the only try of the first half off the back of a driving Ulster maul with Billy Burns adding the extras. Hanrahan slotted another penalty as Munster cut the deficit to 7-6 heading in at the break.
Ulster powered back but Robert Baloucoune crossed after the break with Rory Best pulling off a superb offload in the buildup despite the attention of three Munster tacklers. The newly introduced Bill Johnston kicked Munster’s 3rd penalty of the night to keep the in touch at 14-9.
However another fine Best offload put David Shanahan in at the corner for Ulster’s 3rd try of the night to wrap up the match points. Ulster went looking for a bonus point but it would fall to Munster’s Bill Johnston to kick the crucial penalty at the end and reduce a deserved bonus point for the visitors.
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