MUNSTER FORWARDS COACH Andi Kyriacou admitted his heartrate went “through the roof” as the southern province overturned a nine-point deficit in the final seven minutes to earn a crucial victory over Ulster at Kingspan Stadium on Sunday.
Replacement out-half Ben Healy kicked the southern province back to within six in the 74th minute of a New Year’s Day slog in Belfast, and it was the Tipp man who applied the finishing touches to the comeback as he crashed over for a try and kicked the winning conversion with the clock red.
Healy’s 10 points to turn the game on its head made for a crucial four points in the URC table as Graham Rowntree’s men continue to chase down a play-off spot from behind, and they came off the back of Munster’s relentless retention of possession in the second half from which they were eventually able to penetrate their third-placed opponents despite several goal-line stands by Ulster.
“Some big moments, wasn’t there?” Kyriacou said. “The pragmatism from the lads just to take that penalty opportunity to get us back within seven (six). And our next action for me was fantastic: Jack O’Donoghue took that kick-off well over the head, unbelievable piece of skill and we managed to play off it and gain some good territory back into their score-zone.
“I thought that even though we had to go high phases, the actions we were showing in there were accurate and what we look for in each phase, in each carry, in each clean. It just took a lot to break that Ulster team down which is credit to them and the way they stuck in with their goal-line ‘D’. It was nail-biting but we’re just very happy that we came out the other end of it.”
Ulster back row Sean Refell made an almost comically high 39 tackles on Sunday, the second most in history after Jonny Gray’s 43 against Leinster in 2019 (Opta). Ulster’s total tackle count was 290, a team record and the third most ever recorded in the URC or its previous iterations.
Kyriacou cited the ball-in-play time of 43 minutes as further evidence of his own side “sticking to the framework we’re trying to play in.”
“That belief made sure that we got over the line at the end of the game and stuck in the fight for the full match,” he added.
So too did his forwards’ excellent work at maul time, an area in which Ulster were able to demolish Munster at Thomond Park during their own 15-14 away win in late October.
On Sunday, Munster not only stopped Ulster from making inroads with the maul itself but stifled their ability to play off of it, which had been one of their primary areas of focus in the lead-up to their final interpro of the regular season.
Their lineout, too, which initially stuttered, came good in the clutch after a chat at the break. “We identified at half-time that we were just too slow with every lineout,” Kyriacou said. “We were giving them way too much time to process what was coming in. They could set up, they could get lads in the air, and Ulster are not where they currently are in the league for no reason. They’re a great side. We sped up our process and that led to us being more accurate because we were quicker in the air.”
All of that being said, Robert Baloucoune’s 67th-minute try which stretched Ulster’s advantage out to 14-5 would have been sufficient cause for most teams to head for the bus.
Perhaps most impressive about Munster’s victory was the psychology behind it: there was no conspicuous element of desperation among Rowntree’s players even when entering the final 10 minutes two scores down. There was nothing tried that was especially out of the ordinary. They simply went back to work and continued to put together tidy, high-phase attacks until Ulster could simply tackle them no more.
“We saw how well we can keep hold of the ball and stress teams, and that’s something we’re constantly focusing on,” Kyriacou said.
“We train at an incredibly high tempo. We’re constantly looking to stress the guys throughout training so they’ve become more mentally resilient because of that. We’ve got good leaders and a good group of guys who just understand the way we’re trying to play.
We’re now at the second time around of playing certain opposition but if you look back to the first time we played those teams, we’re watching the games back and you can see lads trying to think about where they’re going. You can see lads still trying to figure out the shape and how we’re going to execute the play in high-phase. Whereas now it’s just become a lot more automatic, we’re much more comfortable within it and when we’re in that flow, it’s a bit easier to make good decisions.
“Again, if you ask Prendy, I’m sure there’s still loads to do. We could be way more clinical than we were. We had to go through high phases but it was pleasing and just another step in the right direction for where we want to take the group.”
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