Tom O’Toole’s 30th minute red card looked like it would make it a long night for Ulster, who fell agonisingly short in the last play of the game when Munster’s outstanding centre Tom Farrell completed a superb hat-trick, and with it, a remarkable derby victory. Munster were left breathing a major sigh of relief, as they got out of jail, but this priceless win lifts them back into the play-off spots for now at least, and condemns Ulster to a fifth defeat on the bounce. O’Toole went from hero to zero as his early try was followed by a red card.
Referee Ben Whitehouse, in consultation with his TMO, ruled that O’Toole had “dropped all of his weight onto the exposed leg” of Alex Nankivell, who will be lucky if he has avoided a serious injury. Munster’s influential Kiwi centre attempted to play on, but he looked in a lot of discomfort before he was unsurprisingly replaced, as O’Toole was left to rue his actions for the remainder of the game. Given that both teams came into his derby with mounting injury lists, they could ill-afford to add to it, but Nankivell was joined by team-mates Fineen Wycherley and Dave Kilcoyne in being forced off, while Ulster lost Stuart McCloskey and Zac Ward in a first-half that they had led 7-5 despite the carnage.
Farrell’s hat-trick along with Shane Daly’s try just about cancelled out Ulster’s tries courtesy of O’Toole, Harry Sheridan and James McNabney, as Munster’s big defensive effort was just about enough. Munster’s s.
