MORE MATCH REPORTS...

 

IN FINAL WHISTLE

 

 

FINAL

MUNSTER 19 - 9 LEINSTER

THOMOND PARK STADIUM - Saturday 28th May 2011
KO 17:05 BST

DAVID WALLACE won his 200th cap and the title of Man of the Match for Munster as the home side put on a nail-biting Magners Grand Final clash against European champions Leinster at Thomond Park Stadium.

Munster maintained their six match record of no team scoring a single try against them, and both sides provided an excellent spectacle for Ireland to be proud of.

MATCH REPORT TO FOLLOW...

15 F Jones 14 D Howlett 13 D Barnes 12 L Mafi 11 K Earls 10 R O’Gara 9 C Murray 1 M Horan 2 D Varley 3 J Hayes 4 D O’Callaghan 5 P O’Connell [C] 6 D Ryan 7 D Wallace 8 J Coughlan BENCH: 16 M Sherry 17 W du Preez 18 S Archer 19 D Leamy 20 N Ronan 21 P Stringer 22 P Warwick 23 J Murphy

SCORERS T: Howlett, Earls, Penalty try C: O'Gara Donncha O'Callaghan

15 Isa Nacewa 14 Shane Horgan 13 Brian O’Driscoll 12 Fergus McFadden 11 Luke Fitzgerald 10 Jonathan Sexton 9 Eoin Reddan  1 Heinke van der Merwe 2 Richardt Strauss 3 Mike Ross 4 Leo Cullen [C] 5 Nathan Hines 6 Sean O’Brien 7 Shane Jennings 8 Jamie Heaslip BENCH: 16 Aaron Dundon 17 Cian Healy 18 Stan Wright 19 Devin Toner 20 Kevin McLaughlin 21 Paul ’Donohoe 22 Ian Madigan 23 Eoin O’Malley

SCORERS P: Sexton (3)

Man of the Match: David Wallace
Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU)

 

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SEMI FINALS

LEINSTER 18 - 3 ULSTER

ROYAL DUBLIN SOCIETY - Friday 13th May 2011
HT: 11-0 Att: 14,476

Report courtesy of Leinster Rugby

LEINSTER booked their place in the Magners Grand Final with a gritty and determined 18-3 victory over Ulster in the RDS on Friday night.

Jonathan Sexton kicked Leinster into an early 3-0 lead after some good work by Isaac Boss in what was a keenly contested opening period.

Though try-scoring opportunities were minimal for either sides, it was the hosts who came closest in the tenth minute when Fergus McFadden's strength found the busy Richardt Strauss whose burst deep into Ulster territory almost released Luke Fitzgerald, but the pass fell inches from the winger's hands.

It was a signal of intent from Leinster and eventually they broke the try deadlock when some good initial work from Gordon D'Arcy and Sean O'Brien found Brian O'Driscoll whose clever offload to Isa Nacewa found McFadden who raced clear to score in the corner at the South End of the ground.

Sexton's difficult conversion struck the posts but he made amends with a penalty on the stroke of half-time to give the Blues an 11-0 half time lead.

A raft of substitutions by Leinster meant that they took a bit of time to find their feet early on and a long penalty punt from Ruan Pienaar inside his own half on the hour mark reduced the advantage to eight points.

But one of a series of Stan Wright bursts in open play found the dangerous Luke Fitzgerald after 71 minutes and he took a great line after an Eoin Reddan pass to beat the Ulster defence and touch down.

McFadden had little difficulty slotting home the extras and Leinster held on to seal the win and set up a final against the winners of Munster/Ospreys on Saturday evening.

Speaking after the game, Magners Man of the Match Sean O'Brien said: "It was a tough game and we knew to expect that with them coming down here.

"I thought that they brought a lot of intensity in the first half and we knew that we would have to dig deep and try to outrun them a bit.

"Whenever you chop and change (substitutions) it can take a few minutes to get back into the groove and the pressure was on us at stages, but I thought the boys worked very hard.

"Even though we're in a position to win trophies deep down right now we know that we have won nothing yet."

15 Isa Nacewa 14 Fergus McFadden 13 Brian O’Driscoll 12 Gordon D’Arcy 11 Luke Fitzgerald 10 Jonathan Sexton 9 Isaac Boss 1 Cian Healy 2 Richardt Strauss 3 Mike Ross 4 Leo Cullen [C]5 Nathan Hines 6 Sean O’Brien 7 Shane Jennings 8 Jamie Heaslip BENCH:16 Jason Harris-Wright 17 Heinke van der Merwe 18 Stan Wright 19 Devin Toner 20 Kevin McLaughlin 21 Eoin Reddan 22 Ian Madigan 23 David Kearney

SCORERS T: McFadden Fitzgerald C: McFadden P: Sexton (4 40)

15 A D'Arcy 14 C Gilroy 13 D Cave 12 N Spence 11 S Danielli 10 I Humphreys 9 R Pienaar 1 T Court 2 R Best [C] 3 D Fitzpatrick 4 J Muller 5 T Barker 6 P Wannenburg 7 C Henry 8 R Diack BENCH: 16 A Kyriacou 17 P McAllister 18 J Cronin 19 N McComb 20 T Anderson 21 P Marshall 22 I Whitten 23 C Gaston

SCORERS P: Pienaar

Man of the Match: Sean O'Brien
Referee:George Clancy (IRFU) Assistant Referees: John Lacey Ollie Hodges (both IRFU) 4th Official: John Carvill (IRFU) 5th Official: Brian MacNeice (IRFU) TMO: Dermot Moloney (IRFU) 

 

MUNSTER 18 - 11 OSPREYS

THOMOND PARK STADIUM - Saturday 14th May 2011
HT: 8-3 Att: 13,147

 

Report courtesy of Munster Rugby

DANNY BARNES marked what was just his fourth start for Munster, his third of the season, with a brace of tries to help Munster to a nervy though totally deserved 18-11 win over Ospreys in front of a 13,000+ crowd at Thomond Park Stadium in the semi final of the Magners League.

It was a victory that sets up what departing sponsors Magners would have wanted, a Grand Final featuring the runaway League winners and their great rivals and runners up in the league proper, Leinster.

It was a game that Munster should have put away long before a finish that saw the visitors play their most threatening rugby in added time as they sought to score the try that might have taken this game to extra time.

It was a scenario that should never have been considered but came about after Richard Fussell had scored a late try to offer the title the faintest glimmer of hope at the end of a game dominated by Munster.

And it left them defending desperately albeit in the Ospreys half of the field as Tommy Bowe, Fussell, Andrew Bishop and Jonathan Thomas tried desperately to carve out an opening.

But the Munster line held firm and they now face the prospect of entertaining what could be the Heineken Cup champions in Limerick in a fortnight's time.

Ospreys played with a stiff breeze at their backs in the opening half but the signs for them were ominous from early on when the Munster scrum stamped it's authority at the very first put-in and James Hook missed a drop goal after his side had claimed possession from a Munster overthrow at the lineout on their own 22.

The home side coughed up two try scoring opportunities in that first half, first Keith Earls losing the ball forward and then Nikki Walker managing to cut out a scoring pass from Lifeimi Mafi to an unopposed Doug Howlett.

With less than minutes to go Munster eventually created the space for Felix Jones and Howlett to send Barnes haring for the line.

Biggar knocked over a penalty from distance and Munster went in 8-3 in front.

It was more of the same upfront in the second half, the red 8 shredding their opposites time after time and David Wallace who had a particularly and effective evening looked sure to score on two occasion, nudging the ball forward first and then denied by the TMO.

O'Gara and Biggar swopped penalties and with the game still delicately balanced, Barnes was up quick to block down a Fussell clearance to gather and score in the 56th minute.

Munster probably should have closed it out but failed to do so to ensure the little bit of drama at the finish but in the end all connected with the Ospreys graciously conceded the spoils went where they were richly deserved.

15 F Jones 14 D Howlett 13 D Barnes 12 L Mafi 11 K Earls 10 R O’Gara 9 C Murray 1 M Horan 2 D Varley 3 J Hayes 4 D O’Callaghan 5 P O’Connell [C] 6 D Ryan 7 D Wallace 8 J Coughlan BENCH 16 M Sherry 17 W du Preez 18 S Archer 19 D Leamy 20 N Ronan 21 P Stringer 22 P Warwick 23 S Zebo

SCORERS T: Barnes (2) C: O'Gara P: O'Gara (2)

15 Richard Fussell 14 Tommy Bowe 13 Andrew Bishop 12 James Hook 11 Nikki Walker 10 Dan Biggar 9 Rhys Webb  1 Paul James 2 Huw Bennett 3 Adam Jones 4 Ian Gough 5 Alun Wyn Jones [C] 6 Ryan Jones 7 Justin Tipuric 8 Jonathan Thomas BENCH: 16 Richard Hibbard 17 Ryan Bevington 18 Cai Griffiths 19 Jerry Collins 20 Tom Smith 21 Marty Holah 22 Tom Isaacs 23 Ashley Beck

SCORERS T: Fussell P: Biggar (2) Richard Hibbard

Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU)

 

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FIXTURES/RESULTS

DATE	TIME	HOME	SCORE	AWAY	VENUE	ATT
03-Sep	19:05	Glasgow	22 - 19	Leinster	Firhill Stadium	2,879
03-Sep	19:05	Ulster	27 - 26	Ospreys	Ravenhill	7,600
04-Sep	17:30	Connacht	40 - 17	Dragons	Sportsground	1,371
04-Sep	18:30	Cardiff Blues	34 - 23	Edinburgh	Cardiff City	6,542
04-Sep	19:05	Treviso	34 - 28	Scarlets	Stadio di Monigo	5,000
04-Sep	19:30	Munster	33 - 17	Aironi	Musgrave Park	8,426
10-Sep	19:05	Edinburgh	13 - 16	Munster	Murrayfield	3,419
10-Sep	19:05	Ospreys	32 - 16	Treviso	Liberty Stadium	6,724
11-Sep	15:00	Scarlets	35 - 33	Connacht	Parc y Scarlets	6,436
11-Sep	18:30	Leinster	34 - 23	Cardiff Blues	RDS, Dublin	15,890
11-Sep	19:05	Aironi	15 - 22	Ulster	Stadio Zaffanella	4,453
12-Sep	16:10	Dragons	23 - 11	Glasgow	Rodney Parade	5,028
17-Sep	19:30	Glasgow	17 - 19	Connacht	Firhill Stadium	3,049
17-Sep	20:05	Scarlets	49 - 10	Aironi	Parc y Scarlets	6,123
17-Sep	20:05	Ulster	29 - 21	Edinburgh	Ravenhill	7,461
18-Sep	18:30	Cardiff Blues	43 - 21	Dragons	Cardiff City	11,194
18-Sep	19:05	Treviso	29 - 13	Leinster	Stadio di Monigo	5,000
18-Sep	20:00	Munster	22 - 10	Ospreys	Thomond Park	18,400
24-Sep	19:05	Treviso	7 - 19	Cardiff Blues	Stadio di Monigo	5,000
24-Sep	19:05	Edinburgh	32 - 24	Leinster	Murrayfield	2,923
24-Sep	19:05	Dragons	14 - 27	Scarlets	Rodney Parade	6,118
24-Sep	19:30	Glasgow	29 - 43	Munster	Firhill Stadium	3,432
25-Sep	18:30	Ospreys	38 - 6	Aironi	Liberty Stadium	7,289
25-Sep	19:30	Connacht	15 - 15	Ulster	Sportsground	3,761
30-Sep	19:05	Cardiff Blues	22 - 6	Connacht	Cardiff City	11,058
01-Oct	19:05	Treviso	20 - 13	Dragons	Stadio di Monigo	4,800
01-Oct	19:05	Ulster	19 - 17	Glasgow	Ravenhill	7,822
02-Oct	19:05	Aironi	9 - 10	Edinburgh	Stadio Zaffanella	4,053
02-Oct	19:30	Leinster	13 - 9	Munster	AVIVA Stadium	50,645
02-Oct	20:10	Scarlets	18 - 21	Ospreys	Parc y Scarlets	13,707
22-Oct	19:05	Edinburgh	21 - 16	Ulster	Murrayfield	3,195
22-Oct	19:45	Munster	39 - 13	Treviso	Thomond Park	17,104
22-Oct	20:05	Cardiff Blues	10 - 16	Scarlets	Cardiff City	14,026
23-Oct	18:05	Connacht	6 - 18	Leinster	Sportsground	4,582
23-Oct	18:30	Dragons	36 - 5	Aironi	Rodney Parade	5,033
24-Oct	16:10	Glasgow	31 - 23	Ospreys	Firhill Stadium	2,554
29-Oct	19:05	Aironi	3 - 20	Cardiff Blues	Stadio Zaffanella	2,900
29-Oct	19:05	Ulster	6 - 16	Munster	Ravenhill	10,750
29-Oct	20:05	Scarlets	18 - 14	Glasgow	Parc y Scarlets	7,149
30-Oct	18:05	Leinster	19 - 18	Edinburgh	RDS, Dublin	16,786
30-Oct	18:30	Ospreys	16 - 21	Dragons	Liberty Stadium	8,123
30-Oct	19:05	Treviso	24 - 17	Connacht	Stadio di Monigo	5,000
05-Nov	19:05	Edinburgh	21 - 9	Treviso	Murrayfield	2,422
05-Nov	19:30	Glasgow	33 - 8	Aironi	Firhill Stadium	2,078
19-Nov	19:00	Connacht	15 - 16	Ospreys	Sportsground	2,035
19-Nov	19:05	Leinster	27 - 6	Dragons	RDS, Dublin	10,390
21-Nov	15:45	Cardiff Blues	15 - 37	Ulster	Cardiff City	6,202
21-Nov	17:35	Munster	27 - 26	Scarlets	Musgrave Park	5,324
26-Nov	19:05	Treviso	9 - 19	Ulster	Stadio di Monigo	3,000
26-Nov	19:05	Edinburgh	24 - 19	Connacht	Murrayfield	1,707
26-Nov	19:05	Dragons	20 - 6	Munster	Rodney Parade	5,079
27-Nov	13:30	Cardiff Blues	38 - 6	Glasgow	Cardiff City	3,760
27-Nov	19:05	Aironi	17 - 34	Scarlets	Stadio Zaffanella	2,000
28-Nov	17:00	Ospreys	19 - 15	Leinster	Liberty Stadium	5,322
03-Dec	19:05	Scarlets	17 - 17	Leinster	Parc y Scarlets	5,142
04-Dec	17:00	Munster	16 - 9	Cardiff Blues	Thomond Park	18,000
04-Dec	18:30	Ospreys	33 - 16	Edinburgh	Liberty Stadium	5,158
24-Dec	14:30	Treviso	15 - 10	Aironi	Stadio di Monigo	3,500
27-Dec	16:00	Ulster	13 - 30	Leinster	Ravenhill	11,426
27-Dec	16:10	Ospreys	60 - 17	Scarlets	Liberty Stadium	18,151
27-Dec	17:35	Glasgow	30 - 18	Edinburgh	Firhill Stadium	7,062
27-Dec	18:10	Connacht	12 - 16	Munster	Sportsground	4,795
31-Dec	14:05	Cardiff Blues	27 - 25	Ospreys	Cardiff City	22,160
31-Dec	14:30	Aironi	15 - 16	Treviso	Stadio Zaffanella	4,127
01-Jan	17:30	Leinster	30 - 8	Connacht	RDS, Dublin	17,136
01-Jan	18:30	Scarlets	21 - 15	Dragons	Parc y Scarlets	9,671
01-Jan	19:30	Munster	35 - 10	Ulster	Thomond Park	22,000
02-Jan	17:35	Edinburgh	28 - 17	Glasgow	Murrayfield	9,292
06-Jan	19:35	Dragons	17 - 16	Connacht	Rodney Parade	5,117
07-Jan	19:05	Ulster	32 - 13	Treviso	Ravenhill	6,651
07-Jan	19:30	Cardiff Blues	24 - 13	Aironi	Cardiff City	6,523
07-Jan	19:35	Leinster	15 - 10	Ospreys	RDS, Dublin	14,876
08-Jan	18:30	Edinburgh	16 - 21	Scarlets	Murrayfield	1,673
08-Jan	19:30	Munster	22 - 20	Glasgow	Musgrave Park	8,500
10-Feb	19:05	Leinster	21 - 16	Aironi	RDS, Dublin	9,790
11-Feb	19:35	Glasgow	15 - 26	Cardiff Blues	Firhill Stadium	1,917
12-Feb	14:00	Dragons	30 - 22	Edinburgh	Rodney Parade	4,277
12-Feb	19:35	Connacht	17 - 13	Scarlets	Sportsground	1,135
13-Feb	14:00	Treviso	19 - 18	Munster	Stadio di Monigo	3,500
13-Feb	17:10	Ospreys	23 - 22	Ulster	Liberty Stadium	5,802
18-Feb	19:00	Connacht	37 - 8	Glasgow	Sportsground	1,268
18-Feb	19:05	Scarlets	16 - 18	Ulster	Parc y Scarlets	5,463
18-Feb	19:50	Munster	23 - 13	Edinburgh	Thomond Park	20,000
19-Feb	17:30	Treviso	18 - 34	Ospreys	Stadio di Monigo	4,200
19-Feb	18:30	Cardiff Blues	11 - 3	Leinster	Cardiff City	10,741
20-Feb	17:30	Aironi	3 - 18	Dragons	Stadio Zaffanella	2,000
24-Feb	19:35	Scarlets	11 - 3	Edinburgh	Parc y Scarlets	5,857
25-Feb	19:05	Ulster	32 - 13	Cardiff Blues	Ravenhill	8,383
25-Feb	19:10	Leinster	30 - 5	Treviso	RDS, Dublin	10,236
25-Feb	19:50	Glasgow	16 - 16	Dragons	Firhill Stadium	1,709
27-Feb	14:00	Aironi	10 - 20	Munster	Stadio Zaffanella	1,500
27-Feb	14:30	Ospreys	33 - 18	Connacht	Liberty Stadium	5,851
04-Mar	19:00	Connacht	31 - 25	Treviso	Sportsground	1,563
04-Mar	19:05	Ulster	23 - 10	Aironi	Ravenhill	7,700
04-Mar	19:30	Edinburgh	11 - 16	Cardiff Blues	Murrayfield	1,776
04-Mar	19:35	Leinster	26 - 15	Scarlets	RDS, Dublin	11,976
05-Mar	17:30	Ospreys	37 - 6	Glasgow	Liberty Stadium	5,642
05-Mar	19:30	Munster	38 - 17	Dragons	Musgrave Park	6,213
11-Mar	19:35	Connacht	11 - 6	Aironi	Sportsground	1,015
18-Mar	19:05	Ulster	25 - 23	Dragons	Ravenhill	7,661
18-Mar	19:30	Glasgow	25 - 17	Treviso	Firhill Stadium	1,369
25-Mar	19:05	Cardiff Blues	15 - 16	Munster	Cardiff City	11,112
25-Mar	20:05	Glasgow	19 - 22	Ulster	Firhill Stadium	2,715
26-Mar	17:30	Aironi	25 - 13	Connacht	Stadio Zaffanella	2,700
26-Mar	18:30	Edinburgh	23 - 16	Ospreys	Murrayfield	1,982
27-Mar	14:30	Dragons	16 - 26	Leinster	Rodney Parade	4,028
27-Mar	17:35	Scarlets	22 - 16	Treviso	Parc y Scarlets	5,943
01-Apr	19:05	Ulster	20 - 18	Scarlets	Ravenhill	8,646
01-Apr	19:45	Connacht	27 - 23	Edinburgh	Sportsground	1,586
02-Apr	15:30	Aironi	16 - 17	Glasgow	Stadio Zaffanella	2,700
02-Apr	18:30	Ospreys	21 - 21	Cardiff Blues	Liberty Stadium	11,619
02-Apr	19:30	Munster	24 - 23	Leinster	Thomond Park	25,923
03-Apr	14:45	Dragons	33 - 10	Treviso	Rodney Parade	4,051
15-Apr	19:05	Dragons	32 - 28	Ospreys	Rodney Parade	5,496
15-Apr	19:45	Connacht	12 - 26	Cardiff Blues	Sportsground	1,856
15-Apr	19:50	Edinburgh	32 - 15	Aironi	Murrayfield	1,565
16-Apr	15:00	Treviso	19 - 16	Glasgow	Stadio di Monigo	4,000
16-Apr	18:15	Scarlets	6 - 13	Munster	Parc y Scarlets	9,108
16-Apr	20:00	Leinster	34 - 26	Ulster	RDS, Dublin	17,670
21-Apr	19:05	Cardiff Blues	29 - 9	Treviso	Cardiff City	9,372
22-Apr	19:05	Ulster	27 - 16	Connacht	Ravenhill	9,239
22-Apr	19:30	Edinburgh	27 - 15	Dragons	Murrayfield	2,935
22-Apr	20:05	Glasgow	29 - 37	Scarlets	Firhill Stadium	3,873
23-Apr	14:30	Aironi	8 - 20	Leinster	Stadio Zaffanella	4,000
23-Apr	18:30	Ospreys	20 - 22	Munster	Liberty Stadium	9,481
29-Apr	16:05	Dragons	28 - 15	Cardiff Blues	Rodney Parade	5,568
06-May	19:05	Leinster	38 - 3	Glasgow	RDS, Dublin	12,318
06-May	19:05	Munster	22 - 6	Connacht	Thomond Park	19,835
06-May	19:05	Dragons	13 - 20	Ulster	Rodney Parade	5,062
06-May	19:05	Scarlets	38 - 23	Cardiff Blues	Parc y Scarlets	11,200
06-May	20:05	Aironi	10 - 12	Ospreys	Stadio Zaffanella	3,700
06-May	20:05	Treviso	31 - 6	Edinburgh	Stadio di Monigo	5,000
13-May	19:05	Leinster	18 - 3	Ulster	RDS, Dublin	14,476
14-May	18:30	Munster	18 - 11	Ospreys	Thomond Park	13,147
28-May	17:05	Munster	vs	Leinster	Thomond Park	tbc

 

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