Munster head coach Graham Rowntree believes his side will benefit from their come-from-behind win over Ulster as they turn towards the play-offs, having secured the top seed for the BKT United Rugby Championship knockouts.
The defending champions came from 24-14 down to edge past Ulster 29-24 in a thrilling Thomond Park interpro, securing home advantage throughout the play-offs, and setting up a quarter-final against Ospreys next Friday.
"It will stand to us," the Munster coach said, after they claimed their ninth win in a row in the competition.
"There's plenty of bits to review, but a lot of our errors were individual errors, and then it was composure in the last 10 metres of the field.
"I'm delighted with our attitude there, we went for the corner, mauled them over, our scrum was in good nick and we used it as a good platform for penalties. It will stand to us.
"It wasn't perfect, we go into the play-offs Friday night, we have a few sore bodies, we'll see how they pulled through and name a team in the middle of the week."
Ulster had been the better side before Munster unloaded their bench in the second half, and the introduction of Gavin Coombes, Oli Jager, Tom Ahern and John Hodnett was instrumental, as the home side's set-piece got on top, and their extra power saw them secure quick ruck ball which stretched Ulster in the final 25 minutes.
Tries for Calvin Nash and Shane Daly got them within reach of Ulster, before Eoghan Clark finished off a well-worked maul to nudge Munster ahead with just over 10 minutes to go, while Jack Crowley's late penalty was the insurance score.
"We found a way, it's an overused expression, but we found a way to win the game.
"The bench was big again. When you go 6:2 [split] and lose a back [Rory Scannell] in the first half, we were still brave around the 45 minute mark bringing four forwards on.
"I couldn't really bring Conor [Murray] on any earlier than we did, but overall, I think it worked, the punch that our bench gave us. It really stood to us. I'm happy with it.
"Our discipline was poor. Jack Crowley, by his own admission, in the side of ruck, it's a penalty, they go in the corner, they break down the front of the maul [for a try]. Then he kicks a ball directly out from a goalline drop-out. They're just individual errors, which he'll recover from, and he did in the game.
"When we get the ball in their 22, we were forcing things, forcing passes, we just lacked a bit of composure. Half time was about being calm," Rowntree added.
Next up for Munster is a meeting with the Ospreys, who made a late charge into the play-offs with a bonus-point win over neighbours Cardiff.
"We have a lot of respect for what Toby [Booth, Ospreys head coach] has done there. As a club what he's done, there, the challenges around availability and budget. They're a sticky team.
"That's the next game, we're at the play-offs and finished the league at the top. I'm immensely proud of that as a club. I think we were 11th on 2 January, we had our injuries around Christmas, and picked up 44 of a possible 45 points since that Connacht game.
"We go to the play-offs now, can't wait," he added.
Ulster had been good value for their 10-point lead early in the second half, as tries for Rob Herring, David McCann and Matty Rea saw them come close to a fifth consecutive win.
Ultimately, the early injuries to second rows Kieran Treadwell and Alan O'Connor proved crucial, as they struggled with Munster's power late on.
The losing bonus-point sees them finish fifth, and they will travel to Leinster next Saturday for a quarter-final, while they have secured Champions Cup rugby for next season.
"I loved my team's performance, I thought they were brilliant," Ulster head coach Richie Murphy said.
In addition to losing Treadwell to a calf injury and O'Connor to a head injury assessment, the province also saw Ethan McIlroy and Stuart McCloskey withdrawn before kick-off.
And the Ulster boss (above) was proud of the fight his team put in.
"Came down here, went after Munster from the word go and really stuck in the game. Lost our way a little bit in the second half, we just lost control of the ball, there were a couple of decisions that didn’t go our way and then Munster just got back on top, and I suppose the home town sort of feel just barely got them over the line.
"Performances are great, but at this level you’ve got to win games. We would have loved to come here and won and gone into that game next week, it would probably have been Glasgow, and gone in on the back of a win.
"Obviously we haven’t done that, but we’re very early on our journey as a team and the great thing is the signs of how we’re going to be, becoming a tough team to play against and a team that looks after the ball much better than what we were doing a couple of weeks back."
TMO to check for foul play in the 3rd minute: 'Just a penalty says the ref'. Snyman high on the centre. That might not be the end of that.
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) June 1, 2024
Munster V Ulster
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The Ulster coach wouldn't be drawn on a controversy early in the game, when Munster lock RG Snyman (above) avoided a card following a head contact on Ulster's Will Addison.
Referee Frank Murphy deemed the incident to be worthy of a penalty only, due to the level of impact, with the Munster lock scoring the opening try of the game just a few minutes later.
"I don't really have any thoughts on it. I didn’t really see it. The referee was going through his due process. I don’t really have a comment on it," Murphy added.
Watch Munster v Ospreys (7.35pm) in the URC on Friday on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to commentary on RTÉ Radio 1 Extra
