Superb Ulster send miserable Munster crashing out

Billed as a 'win or go home' clash, it’s Ulster who march on to a United Rugby Championship semi-final, while the Johann van Graan era at Munster comes to something of an embarrassing end.

The South African coach departs to Bath, alongside defence guru JP Ferreria, while assistant Stephen Larkham will move home to Australia.

In addition, Damian de Allende signed off on an ultimately disappointing two-year spell showing glimpses of why he was brought to the province in the first place.

But this was Ulster and Dan McFarland’s night.

Both coaches went out with the same goal but only one had his side primed for the battle.

Ulster, who will face an away trip to the Stormers or Edinburgh, ran in five tries and the game was over as a contest soon after half-time.

If this was an old-fashioned Irish trial, there would be a lot more players from the white side checking that their passports were in order than from the reds.

Offsides, holding on, taking out a player at the lineout, high tackles, knock-ons, wayward passing, missed tackles; Munster's performance was a horror show for their loyal band of followers who had made the long trip north.

The mistakes began with a Peter O’Mahony knock on from the opening kick and that lack of focus soon infected the rest of the team, who had wanted to put right some wrongs from their final regular-season loss to Leinster.

That had cost them a home quarter-final and it was Ulster who played up to their boisterous supporters in a sun-drenched Kingspan Stadium.

The hosts, who had finished third in the league standings, pinned Munster into their own 22 for the opening 10 minutes and duly came away with a deserved lead.

Referee Jaco Peyper awarded a penalty for offside as an Ulster maul headed to the line.

Ins