15. Robbie Henshaw.
Saturday was hardly the prime time to be a young running fullback, so Henshaw changed his game.
The 19-year-old showed maturity beyond his years and a willingness to do the dirty work which would have befitted a much lower number on his jersey.
14. Tiernan O’Halloran.
Like Henshaw, the winger worked tirelessly through tough conditions. His kick-chasing forced the loose ball for Poolman’s try and quite a few penalties for good measure.
13. Casey Laulala.
Jared Payne may have bettered his fellow Kiwi’s scoring return by five points, but when the chips were down; Munster and Ronan O’Gara turned to Laulala.
Twice in the closing minutes Munster ran an identical play, the outside centre switching inside and taking a short pop pass from O’Gara. It was effective enough to gain a few metres the first time, but the Blues failure to notice the deja vu on their 22 and allowed their former star to gallop across for a winning score.
12. Ian Keatley.
Like JJ Hanrahan last week, Munster’s inside centre again provided the game-breaking spark. His off-load from a kneeling position to Tommy O’Donnell only came after he made a clean break 40 metres out. Munster are spoiled for choice in what Rob Penney would call their ‘second five-eighth’ position.
11. Craig Gilroy.
His deserved 80th minute try was long overdue. The winger, released from Carton House to play on Friday, was the cutting edge Ulster needed throughout and when given an inch he routinely takes 50 metres.
10. Dan Parks.
While Ruan Pienaar landed, a quite amazing, six conversions from six within a 17-point haul; it was the island’s other imported fly-half who had the biggest impact the outcome of a game this weekend.
The former Scottish international showed all of his experience in torrid conditions as Connacht recorded their third win of the season. His right boot dictated almost every play. He turned the Italian defence at every available opportunity – which led to the crucial opening try – and also kicked his goals with confidence.
9. Paul Marshall.
He suffered with some of Ulster’s inconstancy. But when his pack are hot, Marshall ensures they are dangerous, whipping the ball away from the base of each ruck. He also kicked his side into gear, claiming the high ball at 10-10 which led to Gilroy’s break and Payne’s try.
8. Tommy O’Donnell.Two tries proved crucial for Munster, but it was the manner which O’Donnell finished the scores that should give plenty of reasons to be cheerful around Thomond Park.
His first, a collection from Keatley’s superb off-load, was planted under the posts. So too was the second half effort grounded after he showed an impressive jolt of acceleration to beat the covering defender after breaking two tackles on the 22.
7. Sean Dougall.
Munster’s breakdown play noticeably seized-up after the red openside went off injured in the second half. The Scot has come from relative obscurity in the Championship to being an important cog in the southern province’s machine.
6. Andrew Browne.
Played 80 in near impossible conditions as Connacht dug deep to avoid a repeat of last season’s home defeat against Italy’s top team. Put in a Trojan effort both in defence and with ball-in-hand and had a big part to play with Gavin Duffy’s late game-sealing try.
5. Neil McComb.
With Lewis Stevenson and Stephen Ferris carted off injured, McComb is Ulster’s last remaining senior option in the engine-room. Did a fine job of stepping up to the mark in terms of responsibility. Provided the grunt when Ulster turned the screw from a position of 10-3 down and then ensured it was not twisted back despite some patchy second half periods from the team as a whole.
4.Michael Swift.
With the conditions demanding Connacht’s primary weapon be kicking possession away; they needed to rock solid against the waves of phases brought by Treviso. Swift was immense in the tackle, epitomising the will to win at the Sportsground.
3. John Afoa.
We’ve come to expect little less than brilliance with Afoa in the tight exchanges and it’s difficult to complain when Ulster convert a five metre scrum to something resembling a maul. The resulting penalty try brought Europe’s only unbeaten side back to parity after falling behind to Edinburgh. They barely looked back.
2. Nigel Brady.
Literally a central cog to the hosts’ front-row dominance in Ravenhill. Kept the line-out functioning well and, as captain, took the brave decision to forego a 59th minute gimme three-pointer allowing the ball to spin wide for Roger Wilson to claim the fourth try at a time when the game was in danger of growing stagnant.
1. Heinke van der Merwe.
In an error-strewn performance, Leinster’s scrum was a rare highlight during their latest defeat to the Ospreys. Van der Merwe played close to the full 80 minutes and his 8-9-10 axis would have done well to sent the ball back to van der Merwe’s division.
