Ulster began brightly, winning a penalty as early as the second minute, although Niall O'Connor's effort missed the posts by some distance. Two minutes later, however, O'Connor's opposite number Paul Warwick showed good early composure with a penalty of his own from slightly further out, opening the score at 3-0.

Ulster were soon back on the attack, with good advances made notably by Timoci Nagusa and David Pollock down the right flank, until a loose pass broke up play. The home team then pinched the ball from a Munster lineout but were unable to gain any territorial advantage, the wind playing havoc with an attempted clearance.

A good steal on the ground from Cillian Willis on 14 minutes put Ulster back into the driving seat, with standout play from Darren Cave and again Pollock forcing a scrambled clearance from Munster international scrum-half Peter Stringer. The next significant attack saw the awarding of a penalty on 21 minutes, which Ian Humphreys, who had come on for the injured O'Connor, slotted home.

With the scores now level at 3-3, Ulster sprang back onto the attack with an inspired interception from Andrew Trimble. The ball was fed through to Nagusa, who outstripped the Munster backline with electric pace to ground his second try in as many games. Humphreys' conversion put Ulster 10-3 ahead with 27 minutes on the clock.

No sooner had play restarted than Ulster were down to 14 men with Ryan Caldwell sinbinned for dangerous tackling. Munster immediately made their numerical advantage count with a second penalty from Warwick, but seconds later more great running and passing from Nagusa saw Paddy Wallace darting toward the corner and grounding the ball somewhere amid a crowd of bodies.

A video replay was called for and after some deliberation no try was awarded, but Ulster, undeterred, simply started over again. There was absolutely no doubt on 32 minutes when Nagusa's pace ripped the Munster defence in two and took the Flying Fijian over for his second try of the evening. The angle for the conversion proved too tight for Humphreys, so the score remained at 15-6.

Munster then had a great chance of their own on 35 minutes when a kick after a misplaced Ulster pass led to a breakneck sprint for the line. Bryn Cunningham somehow managed to win the race against the Munster backs and knock the ball out of danger to keep the score static till half-time.

Half-time score Ulster 15 Munster 6

As the second half began, the league leaders were still visibly shaken and a poor kick from Stringer gave the momentum back to the home team. A long-distance penalty from Humphreys on 48 minutes went just wide but eight minutes later great interplay between Cave and Andrew Trimble got the latter to within metres of the try-line.

Ulster were now irresistible and on 59 minutes a recently-introduced Isaac Boss picked up the ball from the scrum and used his pace and power to weave his way through for an impressive individual try. Humphreys' swerving conversion cemented Ulster's lead at 22-6.

Munster showed good running on 71 minutes when they broke from deep and progressed into the Ulster half, but were thwarted by a knock-on and lost the impetus. The match as a contest was now clearly over and Ulster were able to absorb anything Munster had to throw at them in the final ten minutes, fully deserving the ovation from the 10,058-strong Ravenhill crowd on full time.

Replacements: (16-22) N Brady, T Court, C Del Fava, T Anderson, I Boss, I Humphreys, M McCrea.