THE RED CARD helped but if anyone deserved a bit of luck, it was Munster.

They have been crippled by injuries at times this season so Graham Rowntree and co. were due some fortune. It arrived with Johan Goosen’s reckless tackle on Craig Casey, who was the unfortunate victim of a reckless tackle.

But 14 men still take beating. We’ve seen it a few times before – the numerically disadvantaged team dig in and cling on, especially when they already have a lead like the Bulls did at 22-17 with 25 minutes of the game to go.

But at altitude in the heat of Pretoria, Munster delivered an excellent closing chapter to secure a superb win. Few teams go to Loftus Versfeld and come away with a bonus-point win but Rowntree’s side did exactly that to move up to third in the URC table.

Their work in the endgame typified the overall performance, one that was good enough to have Munster 17-10 ahead at half time. The red card shouldn’t mean Munster’s efforts before that point are overlooked but they sealed the deal impressively.

Munster nearly scored on the attack directly after Goosen’s red card as they cleverly attempted to immediately expose the fact that the Bulls were missing a back.

Shane Daly carries from the lineout, then Conor Murray fires a pass across the face of Jack O’Donoghue to Jack Crowley.

We can see above that O’Donoghue’s animation buys Crowley a little extra time on the ball as he now looks to exploit the space opened by Goosen’s departure.

Essentially, the Bulls backs have all shifted one defensive slot in to cover Goosen’s exit, which means left wing Kurt-Lee Arendse [red below] is now defending at outside centre, with fullback Willie le Roux [yellow] in turn moving to the left wing slot.

In basic terms, it all means right wing Sebastien de Klerk [pink below] has a lot of ground to cover in the backfield, with that extra back missing.

The Bulls are generally aggressive on set-piece defence anyway but the space for Munser to go after is obvious.

Crowley uses the kick pass to get the ball there and it nearly yields a try for Munster.

If Calvin Nash had been able to gather at full sprint, he probably scores himself but even with the right wing having to check for the bounce, his offload inside to Simon Zebo is inches away from connecting.

Zebo can’t gather the low offload behind him and the chance is missed. It’s simple, smart strategy from Munster without the end product but it’s a hint at what’s to come later.

One quick point to note is the excellent defence from Murray and Crowley in the next action.

Watch how Murray swings from the shortside to hit Bulls number eight Elrigh Louw, with Crowley piling in.

The Munster pair nearly drive Louw over his own tryline but even still, it makes for a fiendishly difficult exit kick for the Bulls and the visitors get a lineout just over 10 metres from the home team’s tryline. Prime field position.

Munster actually lose that lineout but almost instantly win the ball back with a breakdown turnover, another key theme of this win at Loftus Versfeld.

It’s back row Gavin Coombes, who was part of an impactful bench, who pounces for the poach after a tackle by another replacement, John Hodnett.

Most of Munster’s best performances include some memorable jackal steals and this from Coombes was one of five against the Bulls.

And this turnover launches a passage of counter-attack that ends with a try for Hodnett.

Munster have been lethal in these ‘transition’ phases of the game, when possession changes hands through a knock-on, breakdown steal, or kick this season. Only the Lions have scored as many as Munster’s 19 tries in transition in the URC this season.

Munster can strike quickly on turnover possession but they’re also capable of snapping into phase-play attack that breaks the defence over a longer passage.

That’s the case in this instance as Munster score on eighth phase. Initially, Munster don’t make any great headway but they hold the ball until the Bulls give up a penalty advantage for not rolling away from a tackle. And as is often the case, Munster pounce with that advantage in their pocket.

Loosehead prop Josh Wycherley sweeps a pass back to Crowley, who characteristically delays his pass on to fullback Simon Zebo.

And now Zebo works his magic, turning on the footwork to make big inroads into the 22.

The cadence of Zebo’s run is key. With the ball always in two hands, he slightly slows as he moves to the inside shoulder of Bulls centre David Kriel, but then immediately accelerates back to Kriel’s outside to wrong-foot him.

Zebo dummies a pass on his way through to make sure de Klerk sits off him and even though Kriel gets back to scrag tackle Zebo, the Bulls are now in retreat mode.

Wycherley thunders onto the next carry off Murray close to the ruck, keen to keep playing on top of the Bulls but Munster need a crucial clearout from Niall Scannell here.

It’s clear how much of a turnover threat Bulls loosehead Gerhard Steenekamp is but Scannell is decisive in removing that threat.

Scannell’s angle of approach is obviously from the right-hand side of Wycherely but he does enough to square himself up into the clearout on Steenekamp, who himself has come from a side-on angle to get his feet behind the ball in a legal position.

Scannell wraps Steenekamp’s upper body and pulls him off his feet, so Munster can continue to play advantage. With the Bulls narrowed up after having to retreat to stop the Zebo bust, opportunity knocks.

Crowley does a good job of keeping his kick relatively low, getting

Coombes transfers the ball back to Crowley when the Bulls might have hoped the big number eight would just carry, then Crowley pings a kick cross-field.

Crowley wants to get the ball into the waiting Hodnett’s hands as quickly as possible to give him time to beat the Bulls’ scramble.

Hodnett gathers on the full but he has to stand and wait for the ball to drop, meaning he still needs to produce an outstanding finish.

That’s Springboks backs Canan Moodie and Arendese who Hodnett beats in a narrow corridor to finish.

Hodnett’s effort is fitting of a Springboks wing.

He steps back to the inside of the hard-chasing Moodie, using the Bulls centre’s speed covering across against him. Note how Hodnett also uses an underhand fending technique to break past Moodie.

Hodnett gets the ball into his left arm, then drops his right arm and clenches his fist, allowing him to then shrug it into Moodie’s right arm as he looks to wrap the tackle.

This fending technique is different to the classic ‘hand off’ where ball-carriers try to push defenders away with an open palm. It’s something a lot of New Zealanders and Pacific Island players do well – it’s known as the ‘Fijian shrug’ in some quarters – and Hodnett uses it to break past Moodie here.

The Munster man hitches up off his left leg as he goes past Moodie, meaning he has both feet off the ground when Arendse makes contact.

This is not an ideal position for Hodnett but he shows remarkable balance and strength not to be knocked completely off-kilter.

Instead, he gets his right foot down and swiftly follows with his left to begin balancing himself while driving towards the tryline.

With Arendse sliding down to wrap up Hodnett’s left leg, he only really has his right leg in play. Watch how he doesn’t try for a full stride, instead taking shorter hopping movements to stay upright long enough to get the ball back in two hands and reach out to score before Bulls scrum-half Embrose Papier can get to him.

Crowley can’t convert from wide on the right but Munster are back to 22-22 with the final quarter still ahead.

The Bulls attempt to build a response in the next passage but Munster come up with another brilliant breakdown turnover.

This time, it’s centre Alex Nankivell who jackals. He has a penchant for breakdown steals and shows his skills again here.

Bulls hooker Akker van der Merwe makes gainline progress here but that serves to disconnect him from his support as Nankivell backpedals and pulls van der Merwe down to ground.

Nankivell is consistently good at showing an exaggerated ‘clear release’ from the tackle and does so here. 

He’s always keen to show referees that he has released before jackaling.  

Nankivell then snaps down over the ball, getting an immediate connection with it. He still has to take a punishing clearout from Kriel and Louw but comes away with another clean turnover.

Crowley soon misses touch after Moodie gives up a penalty for trying to exploit the ‘Dupont loophole’ regarding offside, while Nankivell is frustrated to be called up for a forward pass that was borderline.

Minutes later, Beirne puts the ball down with a linebreak there for the taking.

Crowley’s pass is remarkably similar to his pass for Beirne’s try for Ireland against France in the Six Nations, with the out-half looking at the back but instead leaving the ball up for Beirne at the front door.

In this instance, even Beirne seems to buy the disguise from Crowley and the chance is gone.

After the initial flurry of excellence after the red card, Munster’s momentum has slowed up and another error follows as Antoine Frisch kicks the ball dead following a clever interception and run down the left by Hodnett.

But with 10 minutes to go, Munster get their accuracy back. Off the scrum after Frisch’s kick, Celimpilo Gumede carries strongly to bump Murray but then throws a forward pass as Jack O’Donoghue tackles him.

Munster now get the put-in to the scrum and win a penalty before Murray can even feed the ball in.

It’s replacement tighthead prop Oli Jager who gets the better of Bulls loosehead Simphiwe Matanzima, whose elbow to ground gives the assistant referee an easy call to relay to referee Adam Jones.

Munster consider the possibilities with their penalty on the five-metre line. Crowley and Murray discuss kicking at goal but captain Beirne indicates that Munster will go to the corner, a decision that is then reiterated with a message from the coaches’ box.

From 10 metres out, Munster opt to go away from their maul and Coombes makes the initial inroads.

Sub hooker Eoghan Clarke ekes out a metre with the next carry before another big involvement from Ireland international Jager.

He times his run around the corner well to punch onto the ball and make further ground as Hodnett latches on.

Beirne and Coombes go very close to finishing on the next couple of phases before Bulls give up the penalty advantage for edging offside.

Again, it’s a trigger for Munster to move the ball wider as Crowley finds Zebo but the fullback is grounded by a good tackle from Arendse.

We can see how exposed this leaves Zebo on the ground.

Moodie recognises the chance and moves to jackal. Frisch is the closest Munster player and he makes an important clearout.

Frisch has to go back to the ball and we can see above that he ends up coming from the side, although that’s partly because Arendse pulls at his jersey just as Frisch is looking to enter straight-on.

Referee Jones is happy with the clearout as Frisch manages to remove Moodie and with Crowley protecting the ball, Murray can move it again as the advantage continues.

Now there’s another key involvement from one of the Munster replacements as Joey Carbery turns on the footwork.

Carbrey’s step back inside Arendse also attracts Louw inwards, the Bulls number eight looking for a possible turnover, but with his hands free Carbery is able to find Murray arriving just in behind him.

Again, it’s a fine finish. Louw has to adjust back out, so Murray has a headstart on him, while Murray’s initial dummy invites Papier to sit off and cover Calvin Nash on the outside.

Murray can’t land a forceful fend onto Louw but he’s able to get the ball beyond the Bulls man, roll with the tackle and extend his right arm to dot down.

Munster lead 27-22 with five minutes still left.

The Bulls are direct with their next possession but Munster manage the initial maul effort and then muscle up in the tackle through the likes of Coombes, Jager, Murray and Hodnett.

An excellent defensive set ends with a Bulls kick ricocheting off Zebo into touch, so Munster must defend once more.

The maul defence is robust again but it’s a breakdown turnover that lifts the pressure on Munster.

Replacement lock Tom Ahern is the man to make the poach and there’s an element of luck involved as he appears to get his left hand onto the ball in the split second after Chris Smith connects with him to form the ruck. 

It’s marginal stuff but Jones is happy and Ahern gets rewarded for getting over the ball after Beirne’s tackle.

There’s still two minutes remaining as Ahern is tackled and Munser decide to go to the box kick rather than trying to run the clock down just outside their 22, risking getting turned over or giving up a penalty.

After one carry infield, Murray hangs a box kick down the left and inside the Bulls half. Although Daly can’t compete in the air, his tackle on Arendse allows Hodnett to compete at the breakdown.

Coomes and Beirne have a sniff at subsequent breakdowns as Munster look for the game-sealing steal. Jones rejects an appeal from the Bulls for a penalty.

Replacement scrum-half Zak Burger passes into Jager as the Munster tighthead gets back to his feet, but Jones reprimands Burger.

“Play on, you’ve thrown it at him,” says Jones. “He’s trying to get onside. Play on. Don’t throw it at him again when he’s trying to get onside.”

A few phases later, Munster appeal. O’Donoghue shapes to jackal but then pulls away, leading to Bulls lock Janko Swanepoel going off his feet.

“Play on, ‘matador,’ pulled out,” says Jones.

It has descended into a battle for the penalty. 

The Bulls eke their way forward with their narrow carrying but Munster are just waiting for the chance to pounce. 

And in a great shock to nobody, it’s Beirne who jackals to seal the win.

Coombes soaks the tackle on Gumede to ensure that Beirne has time to get over the ball before the Bulls support can arrive.

As we know, once Beirne is locked on it’s nearly impossible to remove him. The Munster skipper rides the big clearout attempt of Matanzima to complete the turnover and Crowley launches the ball into the stand.