3 October 2026
Munster shattered the Bulls' unbeaten streak with a thrilling 26-22 bonus-point victory in Limerick, putting an abrupt end to the Pretoria side’s three-match winning run against Munster.
The visitors soaked up heavy initial pressure from a fiery Munster outfit before launching a patient, clinical build-up deep inside the hosts' red zone. Lock Ruan Vermaak bulldozed his way through a wall of red jerseys off the back of a powerful lineout maul to open the scoring. Flyhalf Curwin Bosch slotted the conversion to hand the Pretoria side a 07-00 lead after 16 minutes.
Munster launched a lethal counter off a lineout, culminating in a pinpoint Charlie O’Shea cross-kick that Diarmuid Kilgallen gathered beautifully to score. O’Shea banged over the extras to level the intense contest at 07-07 after 21 minutes of breathless action. The livewire Munster playmaker then charged down a clearing kick from Bosch, racing through to pounce on the loose ball for a classic opportunist try to push the hosts ahead 14-07.
Refusing to back down, the Bulls forwards hit back relentlessly with magnificent inter-passing before prop Francois Klopper crashed over the whitewash. Bosch added the conversion to lock the scores at 14-14 after 37 minutes.
The Pretoria franchise struck first in the second half, with Bosch slotting a penalty after 44 minutes to nudge his side ahead 17-14.
Applying immense pressure, Munster mauled effectively before shifting the ball wide to O'Shea, who sliced through for his second try to retake a 19-17 lead. Now firmly in control, Munster attacked off the back of a powerful scrum, sending the final pass to Alex Kendellen, who crashed over for the critical bonus-point try. O’Shea added the replacement flags to push Munster’s lead out to 26-17 with just ten minutes left on the clock.
The Bulls replied almost immediately, swinging the ball out wide to Jeandre Rudolph, who showed serious gas to dot down in the corner. Trailing 26-22 with five minutes to play, the Bulls threw everything into the final minutes, but Munster held firm to secure a deserved victory.
Scorers:
Munster Rugby: Tries: Diarmuid Kilgallen, Charlie O'Shea (2), Alex Kendellen. Conversions: Charlie O'Shea (3).
Vodacom Bulls: Tries: Ruan Vermaak, Francois Klopper. Conversions: Curwin Bosch (2). Penalty: Curwin Bosch.
Teams:
Munster Rugby: 15 Shane Daly, 14 Diarmuid Kilgallen, 13 Seán O’Brien, 12 Dan Kelly, 11 Shay McCarthy, 10 Charlie O’Shea, 9 Craig Casey (c), 8 Brian Gleeson, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Seán Edogbo, 5 Fineen Wycherley, 4 Tom Ahern, 3 Jack Aungier, 2 Marnus van der Merwe, 1 Michael Milne. Replacements: 16 Kieran Brookes, 17 Jeremy Loughman, 18 Ronan Foxe, 19 Evan O’Connell, 20 Gavin Coombes, 21 Ben O’Donovan, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Alex Kendellen
Vodacom Bulls: 15 Hakeem Kunene, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 Stedman Gans, 12 Stravino Jacobs, 11 Thaakir Abrahams, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Zak Burger, 8 Jeandre Rudolph, 7 Hanro Liebenberg, 6 Marcell Coetzee (c), 5 Reinhardt Ludwig, 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Francois Klopper, 2 Juann Else, 1 Alu Tshakweni. Replacements: 16 Janco Uys, 17 Sti Sithole, 18 Khutha Mchunu, 19 JF van Heerden, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Paul de Wet, 22 Cheswill Jooste, 23 Willie le Roux.
