Ulster head coach Richie Murphy praised the patience of his side as they produced a brilliant second-half performance to hammer Munster 28-3 in Belfast on Friday.
The province were just 6-3 ahead at half-time after a poor opening 40 minutes, which was littered with errors from both sides.
However, Ulster hit Munster for 22 unanswered points after the break, with tries from Tom Stewart, Jake Flannery and Bryn Ward ensuring they would start 2026 with a victory, which temporarily lifts them up to second in the BKT United Rugby Championship table.
"The guys are buzzing now, they're really delighted," Murphy told Premier Sport after their three-try win.
And while the head coach was thrilled with how his side steadied their game after the break, he did suggest there was a slight frustration they they couldn't finish the night off with a bonus-point try.
"I think it was really difficult. A few snow showers just before kick-off and then through that first half, there was another big one, which made it very difficult to play.
"One or two passes gone down and one or two balls that we just didn't respect enough.
"Although we're absolutely delighted, even in the second half, probably towards that last two minutes, three minutes, we probably should have been able to get over for the bonus point.
"28-3 against Munster is no mean feat for any team and we're delighted and we're in a really good place now.
"Defensively, I thought we were really good as well. We kept knocking them back, kept good width, our discipline was decent as well.
"We're moving in the right direction. I think it's really important that we keep our feet on the ground and just keep trying to improve."
Murphy has consistently given youth and inexperience a chance since taking over from Dan McFarland just under two years ago, with Bryn Ward the latest young prospect to catch the eye this week.
The younger brother of winger Zac, 21-year-old Bryn was player of the match at number eight, in just his third start for the province.
"The two Ward brothers tonight were freaks, weren't they, with ball in hand?" added the former Ireland U20 coach.
"We're really, really happy with how Bryn's coming on. We've been dripping him in for 10, 15, 20 minutes in games, but you can kind of see what kind of a ball carrier he is. Devastating.
"He's still a lot to learn, could look after the ball a little bit better once or twice, but very excited about him."
For Munster, it's back to back defeats and four losses in six games, with Clayton McMillan's side looking rudderless in attack without Jack Crowley and Craig Casey.
"There's no sugar-coating over anything really," the Munster head coach said.
"We just never got our game going. We were never allowed to get our game going. I've got to give credit to where it's due and that's to a good Ulster side."
It doesn't get much easier for the province, who travel to Toulon next week in the Champions Cup, and McMillan (below) admits his side have struggled to get their game together in recent weeks.
"It just wasn't good enough. Nowhere near the standard that we want to set.
"It's an opportunity for a number of people to put themselves in the jersey in the coming weeks and really just walk away with more questions than answers.
"Not a great day at the office, but as coaches, we own it first and foremost.
"I think we've been a little clunky in our performances, haven't quite hit our stride. We've tried a few different things, obviously haven't struck the right chord just yet. So it starts with us.
"We'll go away. We'll reflect on what we can do better. We've got a nine-day turnaround now, so we really need to leverage off that to try and find the solutions," the New Zealander added.
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