2011 Celtic League Grand Final

2010-11 Celtic League Grand Final
Event 2010–11 Celtic League
Munster Leinster
Ireland Ireland
19 9
Date 28 May 2011
Venue Thomond Park, Limerick
Man of the Match David Wallace[1]
Referee Nigel Owens (WRU)
Attendance 26,100
Weather Dry

The 2010-11 Celtic League Grand Final was the final match of the 2010–11 Celtic League season. The final was won by Munster who defeated Leinster by 19-9 at Thomond Park to claim their third Celtic League title.[2][3]

Background and Build Up

2010-11 was the tenth Celtic League season and the fifth and final season with Magners as title sponsor. It would also prove to be the final season before the league was rebranded as "Pro12" from 2011–12. The regular season began on 3 September 2010 and finished on the weekend of 6–8 May 2011. During these stages, each team played every other team both home and away and were awarded points according to the standard bonus point system. This was the second season to follow the play-off structure to determine the Celtic League champion, with the top four teams qualifying for the semi-finals. The winner of each semi final advanced to the Grand Final, which took place 28 May and was hosted by the team that finished highest in the table following the regular season, which was Munster.[4][5] The previous week on 21 May, Leinster had won the 2011 Heineken Cup.[6] Munster fielded the same starting line-up from their 18-11 semi-final win against the Ospreys.[7] An ankle injury sustained in the Heineken Cup Final prevented Leinster's Gordon D'Arcy's from starting, Fergus McFadden instead started alongside Brian O'Driscoll in the centre.[8] Heinke van der Merwe and Shane Jennings also started for Leinster instead of Cian Healy and Kevin McLaughlin from the Heineken Cup Final team.[9]

All tickets for the final sold out.[10][11] The match was shown live on TV in Ireland by RTÉ Two and also by TG4, in the UK the match was covered by BBC Two Wales and BBC Alba.[12] Highlights were shown in Central and Northern Scotland on STV.

Route to the final

2010-11 Final Table

Under the standard bonus point system, points were awarded as follows:

  • 4 points for a win
  • 2 points for a draw
  • 1 "bonus" point for scoring 4 tries (or more) (Try bonus)
  • 1 "bonus" point for losing by 7 points (or fewer) (Losing bonus)
Team Pld W D L PF PA PD TF TA Try bonus Losing bonus Pts
1Ireland Munster 211803474321+15341225279
2Ireland Leinster 211416457333+12446254365
3Ireland Ulster 211416460405+5541343263
4Wales Cardiff Blues 211317456354+10235293360
5Wales Ospreys 211119541408+13356286759
6Wales Scarlets 211119465430+3545414757
7Wales Newport Gwent Dragons 2110110431442−1146463348
8Scotland Edinburgh 219012415429−1439412543
9Ireland Connacht 217113388437−4932403639
10Italy Benetton Treviso 218013343496−15326580234
11Scotland Glasgow Warriors 216114398505−10733441633
12Italy Aironi 211020237505−26820520711
Correct as of 30 April 2011

Previous 2010-11 Celtic League meetings

2 October 2010
19:30
Leinster Ireland 13 – 9 Ireland Munster (1 BP)
Report
Aviva Stadium
Attendance: 50,645
Referee: Jérôme Garces
2 April 2011
19:30
Munster Ireland 24 – 23 Ireland Leinster (1 BP)
Report
Thomond Park
Attendance: 25,923
Referee: Andrew Small

Semi-finals

13 May 2011
19:05
Leinster Ireland 18 – 3 Ireland Ulster
Try: McFadden 25' m
Fitzgerald 72' c
Con: McFadden (1/1)
Pen: Sexton (2/3) 5', 40'
 Report Pen: Pienaar (1/1) 62'
RDS Arena
Referee: George Clancy
14 May 2011
18:30
Munster Ireland 18 – 11 Wales Ospreys
Try: Barnes (2) 32' m, 57' c
Con: O'Gara (1/2)
Pen: O'Gara (2/4) 14', 49'
 Report Try: Fussell 78' m
Pen: Biggar (2/2) 38', 55'
Thomond Park
Referee: Nigel Owens

Match

Summary

Ronan O'Gara converted a Doug Howlett try after twelve minutes before Jonathan Sexton responded with a penalty for Leinster after twenty nine minutes to leave Munster 7-3 ahead at half time.[13] The Munster try, which Howlett scored in the corner was the first Munster scored against Leinster since 2009. In the second half Donncha O'Callaghan was sin-binned for not rolling away and Sexton scored from the resulting penalty. After sixty six minutes O'Gara found Keith Earls with a cross-field kick to the corner which the winger caught before stretching to ground the ball with one hand. Munster were awarded a penalty try with one minute remaining, which O'Gara converted to leave the final score at 19-9.[14][15]

Details

28 May 2011
17:05
Munster Ireland 19 – 9 Ireland Leinster
Try: Howlett 12' c
Earls 66' m
Penalty try 79' c
Con: O'Gara (2/3)
 Report Pen: Sexton (3/4) 29', 46', 60'
Thomond Park
Attendance: 26,100
Referee: Nigel Owens
Ireland Munster:
FB15Ireland Felix Jones
RW14New Zealand Doug Howlett
CT13Ireland Danny Barnes
CT12Tonga Lifeimi Mafi
LW11Ireland Keith Earls
FH10Ireland Ronan O'Gara
SH9Ireland Conor Murray
N88Ireland James Coughlan
OF7Ireland David Wallace
BF6Ireland Donnacha Ryan
RL5Ireland Paul O'Connell (c)
LL4Ireland Donncha O'Callaghan
TP3Ireland John Hayes
HK2Ireland Damien Varley
LP1Ireland Marcus Horan
Substitutions:
HK16Ireland Mike Sherry
P17South Africa Wian du Preez
P18Ireland Stephen Archer
L19Ireland Denis Leamy
FL20Ireland Niall Ronan
SH21Ireland Peter Stringer
FH22Australia Paul Warwick
C23Ireland Johne Murphy
Coach:
Australia Tony McGahan
Ireland Leinster:
FB15Fiji Isa Nacewa
RW14Ireland Shane Horgan
CT13Ireland Brian O'Driscoll
CT12Ireland Fergus McFadden
LW11Ireland Luke Fitzgerald
FH10Ireland Jonathan Sexton
SH9Ireland Eoin Reddan
N88Ireland Jamie Heaslip
OF7Ireland Shane Jennings
BF6Ireland Sean O'Brien
RL5Scotland Nathan Hines
LL4Ireland Leo Cullen (c)
TP3Ireland Mike Ross
HK2South Africa Richardt Strauss
LP1South Africa Heinke van der Merwe
Substitutions:
HK16Ireland Aaron Dundon
P17Ireland Cian Healy
P18Cook Islands Stan Wright
L19Ireland Devin Toner
L20Ireland Kevin McLaughlin
SH21Ireland Paul O'Donohoe
FH22Ireland Ian Madigan
C23Ireland Eoin O'Malley
Coach:
New Zealand Joe Schmidt

Touch judges:


Television match official:

Reaction

Leinster coach Josef Schmidt felt that fatigue may have been a factor in their defeat to Munster in the Final. He felt that coming only a week after their Heineken Cup win their energy levels may not have been a high as Munster's, "To be honest, I kind of felt that Munster needed it more than we wanted it. They showed a lot of character, and that made it difficult for us to really keep our tempo, and play the game that we wanted to play" he said.[16] Munster coach Tony McGahan was delighted with his team's win saying "It’s huge for everyone right across the board, from the playing group, the management and the organisation to the development officers and young players coming through, and more important to the supporters. They can walk around with a smile on their faces, knowing that we have done something very important in the context of the Magners League season".[17] Munster captain Paul O'Connell said that the game was a very good thing for Irish rugby, "Both sides have a lot of leadership, and no little skill, people talk about this being a good era for Ireland".[18] Munster's John Hayes noted that it was important to win the knock out matches, saying “We were disappointing in Europe, but good in the Magners, you can finish the League phase of the competition on top of the table, but it doesn’t get you anything, it is important to win the knock-out matches".[19]

References

  1. ↑ "Munster's old fire is too hot for tired Blues". Irish Independent. 30 May 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  2. ↑ "Munster win Magners League final to lay ghost of Leinster double". Guardian. 30 May 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  3. ↑ "Munster 19-9 Leinster". BBC Sport. 30 May 2011. Archived from the original on 29 May 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  4. ↑ BBC Sport
  5. ↑ BBC Sport
  6. ↑ "Heineken Cup: Leinster 33-22 Northampton". RTÉ Sport. 21 May 2011. Archived from the original on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
  7. ↑ "Munster unchanged for Magners Grand Final". RTÉ Sport. 27 May 2011. Archived from the original on 30 May 2011. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
  8. ↑ "Leinster name strong XV for Thomond clash". RTÉ Sport. 27 May 2011. Archived from the original on 31 May 2011. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
  9. ↑ "Magners League Grand Final: Munster v Leinster". RTÉ Sport. 27 May 2011. Archived from the original on 30 May 2011. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
  10. ↑ "Magners League Grand Final - Tickets Sold Out". Munster rugby.ie. 20 May 2011. Archived from the original on 18 May 2011. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
  11. ↑ "Grand Final ticket information". Magnersleague.com. 20 May 2011. Archived from the original on 6 September 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
  12. ↑ "Magners League: Grand Final Preview". irishrugby.ie. 24 May 2011. Archived from the original on 4 June 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
  13. ↑ "Munster power to Magners title". ESPNscrum. 28 May 2011. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
  14. ↑ "Redemption for Reds as old guard rise to the challenge". Irish Examiner. 30 May 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  15. ↑ "Munster 19-9 Leinster". RTÉ Sport. 28 May 2011. Archived from the original on 30 May 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  16. ↑ "Tiredness hits Leinster's double hopes". RTÉ Sport. 28 May 2011. Archived from the original on 30 May 2011. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
  17. ↑ "Something special says McGahan". Magnersleague.com. 1 June 2011. Archived from the original on 8 September 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
  18. ↑ "Munster earn fitting reward for consistent season". Irish Times. 30 May 2011. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
  19. ↑ "'Bull' to enjoy rest but unsure if he'll wear red again". Limerick Leader. 1 June 2011. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
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