{"id":26452,"date":"2022-06-03T17:20:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-03T21:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=26452"},"modified":"2022-06-05T11:24:27","modified_gmt":"2022-06-05T15:24:27","slug":"hume-stars-as-ulster-end-munsters-title-hopes-in-belfast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=26452","title":{"rendered":"Hume Stars As Ulster End Munster’s Title Hopes In Belfast"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Ulster’s James Hume scores a try (INPHO\/Laszlo Geczo)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

James Hume\u00a0scored a try and provided three assists as Ulster swept Munster aside, winning 36-17 at Kingspan Stadium to cruise through to the United Rugby Championship semi-finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dan McFarland’s\u00a0men face a trip to the DHL Stormers or Edinburgh next week after reeling off five tries, including a\u00a0Stewart Moore\u00a0brace and a 10th-minute opener from\u00a0John Cooney\u00a0on his 100th appearance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A frustrating first half for Munster left them trailing 19-7, with an opportunist\u00a0Jean Kleyn\u00a0effort from close range sandwiched by those scores from Cooney and impressive young full-back Moore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keith Earls\u00a0matched Moore with tries in the 52nd and 69th minutes, but the visitors had far too many handling errors and an early concession to the rampaging\u00a0Nick Timoney\u00a0had Ulster out of reach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Cooney penalty completed his 14-point haul – making it 29-12 – and although Earls closed out the scoring, the damage had been done thanks to a deserved try from in-form center Hume.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ulster failed to take advantage of two early Munster errors,\u00a0Peter O’Mahony\u00a0fumbling the kick-off but following up with a subsequent turnover before\u00a0Rob Herring\u00a0knocked on after\u00a0Mike Haley\u00a0had been charged down by Hume.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fineen Wycherley\u00a0pinched an Ulster throw, but off a subsequent lineout platform, the hosts earned a penalty for offside. Hume took it quickly – with Munster caught napping – and sent Cooney over untouched with the scrum half also converting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Munster ended the opening quarter on level terms. They went the direct route with\u00a0Chris Farrell\u00a0and\u00a0Gavin Coombes\u00a0carrying forcefully, and although the latter was held up short, Kleyn gathered\u00a0Alex Kendellen’s\u00a0pass at the second attempt to score under the posts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ruling out a knock-on, TMO Marius Jonker confirmed that the ball bounced off the Munster lock’s left boot before he snatched it up to score.\u00a0Joey Carbery\u00a0squared things up from straight in front and the visitors kept hold of the momentum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Damien de Allende\u00a0beat two defenders to bring them back into the Ulster 22,\u00a0Stephen Archer\u00a0rumbled through from a clever Coombes pass but, much to the home fans’ delight,\u00a0Robert Baloucoune’s\u00a0man-and-ball tackle on Carbery and relieving penalty prevented a certain try.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ulster regained control of the scoreboard with a brilliant score from the resulting lineout. Lovely hands put Baloucoune through a gap, fellow winger\u00a0Ethan McIlroy\u00a0then cut in from the left and offloaded out of a tackle for the supporting Moore to finish off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cooney’s kick made it 14-7 and despite another big carry from Coombes

buy kamagra 100mg<\/a><\/p> , Munster’s progress was halted by a series of knock-ons. Indeed, they were stung by a third try as Ulster’s backs again found a way through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hume flung a pass wide for Moore to take on Earls and stretch one-handed for the try-line. It appeared touch and go if he was in control as he attempted to ground the ball, but the TMO decision went Ulster’s way once more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Munster’s only opportunity to hit back before the interval came from a counter attack, yet\u00a0Andrew Conway’s\u00a0kick down towards Ulster’s five-meter line was retrieved by Ulster’s workhorse captain\u00a0Iain Henderson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two minutes into the second half, Munster’s midfield was carved open as\u00a0Stuart McCloskey’s\u00a0short pass sent Hume hurtling through and he laid off for Timoney to romp home from 35 meters out. Cooney converted for a 19-point lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luck was just not on Munster’s side, with Coombes unable to get a clear grounding after blocking down a Cooney kick.\u00a0Fineen Wycherley\u00a0also knocked on just as the visitors were poised to turn their pick-and-drives into points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Munster pack kept plugging away, going close from a maul before\u00a0Craig Casey\u00a0passed back to the blindside where Earls dived over superbly to score with an outstretched right hand. Carbery missed the touchline conversion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even when Munster replacement Casey won turnover ball, Henderson hoovered up a penalty in response and he called up Cooney to split the posts nearing the hour mark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mistakes kept coming from the men in red, and Ulster punished them, Timoney breaking a tackle from de Allende to tear through the middle and Hume bundled his way over from a flat pass by\u00a0Billy Burns. Replacement\u00a0Nathan Doak\u00a0added the extras.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earls and\u00a0Thomas Ahern\u00a0did well to hold up\u00a0Robert Baloucoune\u00a0after the Ulster winger had scampered into space from halfway, and\u00a0Johann van Graan’s\u00a0charges duly put the phases together for a well-worked try with just over 10 minutes remaining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earls completed his brace via a Casey pass, rewarding an initial break from young second row Ahern and good support from the Leinster-bound\u00a0Jason Jenkins. Carbery’s conversion came back off the post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pressing for another score late on, Munster missed out when Farrell had a pass intercepted by McIlroy. Credit to Farrell and Haley for chasing back to crowd out Moore, but Ulster had already sewn up the result.<\/p>\n

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