Was this the night Ulster finally rediscovered themselves? Only time will tell.

But while it must be remembered that the Munster, the reigning Heineken Cup champions and current leaders of the Magners League, travelled to Belfast without 10 of their big guns, this was still win of real substance for an Ulster side that has struggled to put together an 80-minute performance all season.

Munster had gone into Saturday’s night contest on the back of seven straight wins in all competitions while Ulster just had one to their name.

And Munster coach Tony McGahan was confident that with 12 of the 22 from the squad that defeated Sale Sharks on the previous Sunday, and fringe players busting to make an impact in the red shirt, there would be no sense of after the Lord Mayor’s show for their visit to Ravenhill.

Yet what they hadn’t banked on was an Ulster side that was ready to piece together all the best bits of their previous seven outings and deliver a display that combined stout defensive, rapier finishing and a tactical nous more associated with their opponents.

As Ulster coach Matt Williams said afterwards: “We out-Munstered Munster.” He and the players not involved with the Ireland set-up can now look forward to a couple of weeks off with a spring in their step.

While McGahan will have been disappointed at his side’s lack of desire and commitment on the night, Ulster’s victory was founded on their ability to impose themselves at the breakdown, where David Pollock in particular was outstanding, and a new-found cutting edge provided by the scintillating running of Fijian wing Timoci Nagusa.

Nagusa, who remarkably only started playing the game two years ago, celebrated becoming an uncle for the first time — just hours earlier his sister had phoned from Fiji to tell him the good news and that the baby boy had been named after him — by grabbing two tries, both out of the top drawer of finishing. After a tough baptism, the 21-year-old is starting to fulfil his great promise.

Another key element to the victory was the 12th minute introduction of Ian Humphreys, who went on to kick a penalty and two conversions, for the unfortunate Niall O’Connor, who limped off with a hip injury.

O’Connor’s raw talent remains a work in progress, but Humphreys, whose chance should have come sooner, seized his opportunity with aplomb. There were shaky moments, not surprisingly having waited since August for this chance, but at times you could be fooled for thinking it was not big brother David out there.

He attacked the line, got the backline moving and kept Munster’s defensive line guessing about what was coming next. One turbo like punt to the corner epitomised Ulster’s second half show as along with Paddy Wallace, the pair turned the screw with a shrewd kicking game. Once again Darren Cave also caught the eye with his line-breaking ability.

When Isaac Boss bustled his way over from the base of a wheeling scrum, showing great pace and power to score Ulster's third try, the game was already up for Munster by the hour mark.

Ulster, despite moments of madness such as when Ryan Caldwell was sent to the sin bin and allowed Paul Warwick to kick his second penalty just after Nagusa’s sizzling first try off Wallace’s inside pass, did not fail into the same trap as previous games this season when period of slackness and poor concentration allowed teams to ease away with games. Instead they kept their foot on Munster’s neck all night.

After Wallace had been unlucky to see a try disallowed when the ball bounced on the line from his chip and chase after a superb offload by Nagusa, Ulster had landed a second significant blow before the half was up.

Rory Best tidied up a messy ball with a neat delayed pass before Nagusa hit a sensational line off Robbie Diack and then showed tremendous speed racing over from 40 metres, giving Munster full-back Denis Hurley no chance to even lay a finger on him.

The home side had to survive a scare when from a promising position a mix-up saw Humphreys pass go astray and Anthony Horgan hacked ahead twice to spark a race for the line. Bryn Cunningham however managed to get across just in time to challenge for the ball over the line and the TMO once again ruled no try. The full-back’s chase summed up Ulster’s night.

And although the bonus point eluded Ulster in the final quarter, it still did not prevent the 10,068-strong crowd giving the players a standing ovation at the final whistle.

Back-to-back Magners League wins has now moved Ulster up to eighth place, level on points with the Cardiff Blues and just two points behind Leinster. Crisis? What crisis?

Ulster: B Cunningham (M McCrea 70); T Nagusa, D Cave, P Wallace (C Willis 77), A Trimble; N O’Connor (I Humphreys 12), C Willis (I Boss 51); J Fitzpatrick (T Court 46), R Best (N Brady 71), BJ Botha (T Court 71), E O’Donoghue (Del Fava 66), R Caldwell (C Del Fava 48-53), S Ferris (T Anderson 70), D Pollock, R Diack.

Munster: D Hurley (J Manning 51); A Horgan (K Lewis 70), B Murphy, M Lifeimi, I Dowling; P Warwick, P Stringer (M Prendergast 51); F Pucciariello, D Fogarty, T Buckley, M O’Driscoll, D Ryan, A Quinlan (, J O’Sullivan (J Coughlan 51), J Melck.

Referee: A Rolland (Leinster)