United Rugby Championship round two

Munster (14) 26

Tries: Kilgallen, O’Shea (2), Kendellen Cons: O’Shea (3)

Bulls (14) 22

Tries: Vermaak, Klopper, Rudolph Cons: Bosch (2) Pens: Bosch

Munster registered their first victory of the United Rugby Championship season with a 26-22 win over Bulls at Thomond Park.

The sides were level at the break in Limerick following a tight first half with two converted tries each.

However, an impressive display from Charlie O’Shea on his first senior competitive start, during which he scored a try in either half and kicked three conversions, helped secure the crucial win for the Irish province.

Munster travel to face Ulster in their next match, while Bulls face Lions in Pretoria.

The Bulls opened the scoring on 18 minutes when Ruan Vermaak crossed from a maul after some persistence pressure from the away side.

Munster kicker Diarmuid Kilgallen then connected with a superb crossfield kick by O’Shea to level the match with the 20-year-old adding the extras.

O’Shea continued to impress and registered a try of his own on 30 minutes before Bulls responded quickly through tighthead Francois Klopper as half-time approached.

Early in the second half, Curwin Bosch converted a penalty to edge Bulls ahead before O’Shea dived over from Craig Casey’s pass for his second try of the evening.

Munster’s third try helped them grow in confidence and, backed by the home support, they began to dominate with Dan Kelly and Gordon Wood linking up to find Alex Kendellen, who secured the bonus point.

The Bulls finished the match strongly with Jeandre Rudolph charging in from wide to score, but Bosch’s missed the conversion to further close the gap with the home side able to hold on for their first win of the campaign.

Munster: Daly; Kilgallen, O’Brien, Kelly, McCarthy; O’Shea, Casey; Milne, van der Merwe, Aungier; Ahern, Wycherley; Edogbo, Hodnett, Gleeson.

Replacements: Brookes, Loughman, Foxe, O’Connell, Coombes, O’Donovan, Hanrahan, Kendellen.

Bulls: Kunene, de Klerk, Gans, Jacobs, Abrahams, Bosch, Burger, Tshakweni, Else, Klopper, Vermaak, Ludwig, Coetzee, Liebenberg, Rudolph.

Replacements: Uys, Sithole, Mchunu, van Heerden, Carr, de Wet, Jooste, le Roux.