Johann van Graan disappointed to end Munster stint with another quarter-final defeat

Outgoing Munster head coach Johann van Graan expressed disappointment that his stint with the Irish province ended with a quarter-final defeat in the ongoing United Rugby Championship.

Stewart Moore scored a double while John Cooney, John Cooney and James Hume touched down for Ulster as they registered a 36-17 win over rivals Munster, who had two tries from Keith Earls while Jean Kleyn also dotted down for them.

This was also van Graan's last outing with Munster as he now heads to Bath Rugby ahead of the 2022/23 season and the 42-year-old said the result was 'utterly disappointing'.

“Yeah, that’s utterly disappointing,” admitted Van Graan.

“This one hurts. I think the thing for me was the quality of our performance.

"We created so many opportunities and we just knocked on the ball – I think something like 19 turnovers, starting with the first kick-off of the game and we knock it on.

"The frustrating thing is how uncharacteristic this was for us as a group. There’s certain things in the game that went well but not close to good enough to win a quarter-final.”

Meanwhile, Munster also had an exit in the Heineken Champions Cup with a quarter-final defeat to Toulouse that was decided in the penalty shoot out after both the teams ended up scoring 24 apiece.

The semi-finals of the United Rugby Championship will see Leinster facing Vodacom Bulls while Stormers will be locking horns with Ulster.