IT IS a bit late, but Munster are beginning to show their class. Two wins on the bounce, over Benetton and Ulster, now give the Reds a great chance of qualifying for a place in the last eight for the knock-out rounds of the URC, and more importantly, a place in the 2026/27 Champions Cup.
It was a remarkable Saturday night in Thomond Park with replacement flanker Alex Kendellen scoring a hat-trick of tries and fellow Corkman John Hodnett surpassing him with a record four touchdowns, which is a competition record.
Hodnett becomes only the fourth Munster player to achieve same, following in the footsteps of Mike Mullins, Alex Wooton and Gavin Coombes.
A modest Hodnett, 27, remarked: “I was running around like a headless chicken out there, but it was a good team performance and we are happy with that.”
For the fans, it was great to be back in Limerick after the long lay-off, and the 17,364 attendance certainly enjoyed the 41-14 victory over Ulster.
Ulster, no doubt, were resting their key men for their Challenge Cup semi-final at home against the Exeter Chiefs this Saturday.
Worryingly, the Munster injury count continues to rise with Tadhg Beirne, Jack Crowley, Jean Kleyn, Calvin Nash, Tom Farrell and Oli Jager casualties from the weekend.
For Nash, it was special to achieve 100 caps with Munster.
Munster (5th) are off this weekend, with a trip to Connacht (9th) next-up on May 9, followed by a home fixture against Lions the following weekend.
“Obviously this week is an opportunity to take stake and then we have to prepare for an ever-proving Connacht side,” commented coach Clayton McMillan.
“I think outside the top maybe two or three (Stormers/Glasgow Warriors/Lions), everyone else is scrapping for whatever points they can get. So we just need to worry about ourselves.”