Munster turn corner as Ulster struggle for confidence

Munster bludgeoned their way to an all-important away win at the Kingspan Stadium on Sunday evening.

Mike Prendergast will be reviewing the attacking prowess of Munster's game this week with many improvements needed following the interprovincial series. Both games against Ulster and Leinster had a blunt and repetitive attacking shape in the opposition 22, meaning Munster were turned over or failed to cross the opposition try line far more times than they had success.

It isn’t all doom and gloom. Beating Ulster away from home is a monumental achievement for any Munster side going on the road. Considering the momentum that Munster are trying to build at the moment, and the pressure to win a tier one game, it was all smiles in the coaches box when Ben Healy made the crucial breakthrough and subsequent conversion to steal the match points at the death.

Ulster, however, are on their own journey of existential crisis lately. They had a rock solid defence for most of the 80 minutes. A brief naivety on the short side of a ruck to allow Paddy Patterson to sneak in for a try, created by excellent breakdown work from Shane Daly to ensure that Stockdale couldn’t recover in time to catch the speedy scrum-half.

"When you compare to last year, Ulster were the province that had their systems in place and should have been taking steps closer to catching Leinster"

The other lapse in the Ulster defence was allowing Jack Crowley to wriggle and step his way around numerous defenders to give Munster the pitch position and pressure for Ben Healy to finish off the attack.

Ulster didn’t have too many decisions to make in their defence. Munster were progressively predictable as they worked their way closer to the Ulster try line. When Gavin Coombes and