MUNSTER’S fighting spirit and came to fore in the URC encounter against the Bulls as they came from 26 points adrift early in the second-half to salvage a bonus point.
Munster trailed by 26-3 at the interval and with the heat and altitude expected to take a big toll on the visitors. The prospects of a win as Johaan van Graan returned to his hometown club in Pretoria looked like a tall order. Munster showed the belief, mindset, and performance from there 23 players ensured that there was a battle until the final whistle.
Munster rallied superbly and outscored the Vodafone Bulls by three tries to nil in the second-half, cutting the gap to five points seven minutes from time. That was as close as Munster got and they had to settle for the losing bonus point as late attacks failed to produce a match-winning score.
It seemed highly unlikely as the opening half progressed that Munster would be in a position to win the game in the closing stages. The Bulls built up an impressive opening half lead as Munster’s indiscipline saw an opening half penalty count of 10-2.
Making his first start at 8, Greenore Academy player Alex Kendellen was sinbinned in the opening half for a no-arms tackle. The Bulls made the extra man count to get in for their second try when Walt Steenkamp scored after sustained pressure.
Earlier Munster captain Jack O’Donoghue had a try ruled out after Josh Wycherley was adjudged to have infringed in the maul in the build-up after eleven minutes. The Bulls led 6-3 at that stage following two penalties from Chris Smith either side of a penalty from Ben Healy.
The opening try came after a burst from former Ulster No.8 Marcel Coetzee and was finished by winger Madosh Tambwe after 16 minutes. Smith converted both Bulls tries and added four penalties to lead 26-3 at the break, before he pushed the advantage with another penalty after 47 minutes.
Munster responded to the challenge. They got back in contention when Kendellen superbly squeezed over after a tapped penalty in front of the posts. Healy added the conversion with a drop to cut the margin to 29-10.
World Cup winner Damian de Allende, back from injury, made a big impact on his return. He was rewarded for chasing a loose ball off the lineout to get the bounce of the ball and the touchdown. Healy again converted and the deficit was cut to 29-17 after 58 minutes.
The Bulls were reduced to 14 men when replacement hooker and former Springbok Bismarck du Plessis was sent off for a tip tackle on Kendellen, with eleven minutes left.
Good Munster pressure yielded a third try when O’Donoghue scored and Healy converted to get the gap down to five and that was the way it finished in front of a reduced crowd of 2,000 at Loftus.
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