Munster Rugby

Munster Rugby

Nickname(s)	The Red Army
Founded	1879
Location	Munster, Ireland
Ground(s)	a) Thomond Park b) Musgrave Park
Capacity	a) 26,500 b) 8,300
Coach	Tony McGahan[1]
Captain	Paul O'Connell
Most appearances	Anthony Foley (201)
Top scorer	Ronan O'Gara (1,725)
Most tries	Anthony Horgan (41)
League	Magners League
2008-09	1st
1st kit 2nd kit
Official website
www.munsterrugby.ie

Munster Rugby (more commonly known as Munster) is an Irish professional rugby union club based in Munster, that competes in the Magners League and Heineken Cup. The team represents the Irish Rugby Football Union Munster Branch which is one of four branches of the IRFU, and is responsible for rugby union in the Irish province of Munster and a number of junior clubs. Their main home grounds are Thomond Park, Limerick, and Musgrave Park, Cork. Munster plays in a red jersey, navy shorts and red socks. The Munster Rugby logo consists of three crowns and a stag. The team motto is "To the brave and faithful, nothing is impossible."

The Munster Rugby branch was formed in 1879. Its most famous victory occurred in 1978 when it defeated the All Blacks. It remains the only Irish side to have ever done so. With professionalism in rugby union in the mid 1990s the Munster team competed in the new European Heineken Cup. After three seasons of failing to progress past the group stage, Munster made the quarter finals in the 1998-99 season, and in the subsequent season made their first final appearance, losing to English club Northampton. They were again runners-up in 2001-02, losing to English club Leicester, though the following season it won its first Celtic League title, with the championship being introduced the previous season. In their third Heineken Cup final in 2005-06, Munster famously defeated French club Biarritz, by a margin of 23-19, to win their first European championship. On 24 May 2008, Munster won the Heineken Cup for the second time when they beat Toulouse 16-13. On 2 May 2009, Munster lost the Heineken Cup semi-final to fellow Irish rivals Leinster by a scoreline of 25-6.

Munster is known for its fan support and game day atmosphere (the noise during play and complete silence during an attempt to kick a goal). Games involving Munster hold several Heineken Cup records for highest attendances in every stage of the finals, as well as the highest ever attendance for a rugby game in both Spain and Switzerland. The ERC's European ranking system has placed Munster as the Number 1 team in Europe based on its performance in the last four seasons.

In 2008, Director of Coaching Declan Kidney left to take up the head coach job with Ireland, and Munster ensured continuity by promoting Australian Tony McGahan to the position from within the coaching setup.

Contents 1 History 1.1 First victory over a touring side 1.2 Against the All Blacks 1.3 Early 1990s 1.4 Late 1990s and early 2000s 1.5 2005-06 to present 2 Colours and logo 3 Home grounds 4 Supporters 5 Honours 6 Season records 6.1 Celtic League 6.2 Heineken Cup 7 Current squad (Season 2009/2010) 7.1 Backs 7.2 Forwards 7.3 Players in (Season 2009/2010) 7.4 Players out (Season 2009/2010) 8 Notable players 8.1 British and Irish Lions 8.2 Notable Overseas Players 8.3 Other Notables 9 See also 10 References 11 Further reading 12 External links

History

Munster has a great tradition of competiveness and empassioned displays against touring sides. The first touring side to play Munster were the famous "Original" All Blacks led by Dave Gallagher, who lined out against Munster in the Markets Field, Limerick in November, 1905. Munster were defeated that day 33-0. Throughout the years Munster were to record a number of near-misses and last minute defeats to the Springboks, Wallabies and the All Blacks. The first tangible result against a touring side was to come in 1958 when the Wallabies were held to a 3-3 draw in Thomond Park.

First victory over a touring side

In 1967 Munster became the first Irish Provincial side to defeat a major touring team when they defeated Australia 11-8 in Musgrave Park, Cork on the 25th of January. Munster were captained that day by Tom Kiernan.

Against the All Blacks

Munster drew with New Zealand 3-3 in 1973 and then in 1978 became the only Irish side to have beaten the All Blacks. The 12-0 victory occurred on Tuesday 31 October 1978 at Thomond Park. Christy Cantillon scored a try with Tony Ward converting. Ward also added a dropped goal in each half. The game remains the only time an All Blacks team lost to any Irish side, and now forms part of Munster rugby mythology. A stage play named Alone it Stands (by John Breen), and a book named Stand Up and Fight: When Munster Beat the All Blacks by Alan English were both based on the events. Both have been commercially successful.^[2]

The All Blacks returned to Thomond Park in November 2008 - to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the previous test, and to celebrate the opening of the new stadium.^[3]. After 76 minutes of the match Munster were winning 16-13. However a late try by Joe Rokocoko saw the All Blacks win 18-16.^[4]

Early 1990s

In 1992, Australia, reigning world champions, having won the 1991 Rugby World Cup, visited Munster as part of a European Tour. Munster won 22-19 in a rough encounter in Cork. Ten years later, London newspaper The Daily Telegraph recounted part of the legend in a feature on Munster prop Peter Clohessy: "The then Wallabies coach, Bob Dwyer, who was not a man who readily accepted that opposition sides could legitimately score more points than his team, immediately branded the Munster Number 3 a "disgrace". It had been a typically rugged, robust and memorable Munster triumph, with leather and fists flying on both sides. Clohessy who wouldn't generally be known for misconduct was no more guilty than the next man but world champions are not supposed to lose against a hastily assembled Irish provincial XV. There had to be a reason, an excuse, and Dwyer rounded on Clohessy".^[5]

Late 1990s and early 2000s

They reached the Heineken Cup quarter-finals in 1998/99, after three years of not being able to get out of the group stages. This led them to their first appearance in the competition's final in 1999/00, where they lost by one point to Northampton at Twickenham. Nevertheless, that season was most memorable with a fantastic win over Toulouse 25-31 in Bordeaux. Their good form and bad luck continued in the following year (2000/01) with a semi-final defeat to Stade Français, again by one point. In 2001/02 Munster lost the last match of their pool in Castres, but qualified as best runners-up. Munster beat Stade Français 16-14 in Paris. The only try of the game coming from Anthony Horgan. It was then on to Béziers to meet Castres for the semi-final. Munster were triumphant and went to the final at Millennium Stadium to meet the reigning champions, Leicester. Munster lost a tight game remembered as 'the hand of Back' final as a Leicester flanker used his hand illegally in a scrum when Munster had a last-chance attack.

In 2002/03, they reached the quarter-finals after a win against Gloucester, later issued on DVD under the title "The Miracle Match". In this game, Munster needed to win by a margin of at least 27 points and score a minimum of four tries to earn a quarter-final berth. They won 33-6 with four tries in a game that has become part of Munster rugby folklore. They again faced Leicester, this time at the Tigers' home of Welford Road, and defeated the reigning champions to progress to the semi-finals. They faced Toulouse in the semi-finals and lost out on a place in the final after losing by a single point in France.

In 2003/04 it was more of the same. After an assured performance in the Pool stage they defeated Stade Français at Thomond Park to set up a semi-final date with English champions Wasps. This was considered one of the best Heineken Cup matches of all time. Although leading by 10 points in the second half, having already lost Ronan O'Gara to injury early on, they succumbed to 2 Wasps tries in injury time resulting in a Wasps v Toulouse final. In 2004/05, after a shaky performance in the Pool stage, they qualified as 5th seeds and played Biarritz away. The match was played at Real Sociedad's ground, the Anoeta Stadium, in San Sebastián in Spain — the first Heineken Cup game ever played in Spain. Biarritz won 19-10 to avenge a 38-29 defeat at the same stage in 2001.

2005-06 to present

In 2005/06, in order to qualify from the pool stage, they needed to beat Sale Sharks at Thomond Park. Unlikely though it seemed, to win the pool they needed to score four tries and avoid giving Sale a bonus point. This they did in some style, scoring a try in injury time to win the match 31-9 and reach the quarter-finals. To add to the drama, the team qualified for a home quarter-final thanks to Leinster beating Bath the following day. This was achieved not just by Leinster winning the away fixture, but by their denying the home side a bonus point as well. Their quarter-final was played at Lansdowne Road in Dublin against Perpignan. Munster eventually won the game 19-10 to set up a semi-final against rivals Leinster, which they won convincingly, 30-6.

They would return to the Millennium Stadium for the final against Biarritz which they won 23-19 to become European champions for the first time. Tries from Trevor Halstead & Peter Stringer along with 13 points from Ronan O'Gara kicks made up the Munster total. Alan English, author of Stand Up and Fight: When Munster Beat the All Blacks was commissioned to write an official account of the 2005/06 European campaign, entitled Our Road To Glory, with photographs by Billy Stickland. The book, a compilation of the players thoughts and feelings before and after the final, was launched to coincide with the 2006/07 campaign.

In the 2006/07 Heineken Cup, they started their campaign with a victory over Leicester at Welford Road from a Ronan O'Gara penalty from his own half. Munster continued the group stage undefeated until they met Leicester Tigers again, this time at Thomond Park. Munster, previously undefeated at "Fortress Thomond Park" in Heineken Cup play, ended up losing the game 6-13, but still clinched a quarterfinal berth as one of the two top second-place teams.

In August 2007, Munster sent a team, minus its international players, to the USA to play the US Eagles in a 2007 World Cup warm up game, Munster winning the tie 10-6 with Anthony Horgan scoring the only try of the match. Munster clinched arguably the most audacious signing in the province's history on 30 August 2007, when Doug Howlett, who succeeded Christian Cullen, himself a Munster signing, as all-time leading try scorer for New Zealand during the 2007 World Cup, agreed to join on a two and a half year contract, also the signing of the Bruff secondrow, Hugo Diepman, who played at Leinster for two years closed up the transfers for that year.

The Heineken Cup campaign for 2007/08 began on a losing note, with a 24-23 defeat to London Wasps at Coventry City FC's Ricoh Arena. A home win against a weakened Clermont Auvergne side followed. Munster gained revenge for last season's quarter final exit at the hands of Welsh side Scarlets with a victory over the Welsh side at a rain-sodden Stradey Park and a second win at Thomond Park. A bonus point 26-19 loss to Clermont kept Munster in the hunt for qualification for the knockout stages. A win over Wasps at a wet and windy Thomond secured top spot in the "Pool of Death" for Munster and they booked a quarter-final berth against Gloucester at Kingsholm, which was duly won 16-3. The semi-final saw Munster beat Saracens 18-16 at Ricoh Arena and in the final at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium they defeated Toulouse 16-13 to claim their second Heineken Cup title in 3 years. Denis Leamy's first half try along with 11 points from the boot of O'Gara accounted for the scores.

Munster started the 08/09 season impressively winning their first nine games (2 friendlies and 7 competitive matches). Finding themselves in the "Pool of Death" yet again Munster were forced to fight to reach the Henieken Cup quarter-finals. A nervous last-minute victory over Montauban at Thomond Park and a disappointing loss away to Clermont appeared to indicate that they would be unsuccessful. Two victories against Sale and a return victory against Clermont at Thomond Park meant that Munster qualified for the knock-out stages yet again and actually with a match to spare. A dominant performance away to Montauban in a match delayed by a day due to storm-force winds ensured a home tie in the quarter-finals. There, the opponent would be Welsh-outfit Ospreys. A brace of tries from Keith Earls and a man-of-the-match performance by Paul Warwick resulted in a win described by Munster legend Mick Galwey as the best he had even seen Munster play, either as a player or spectator. ^[6] On 2 May 2009 Croke Park was the venue for the Heineken Cup European Rugby Semi final between Leinster and Munster. The attendance of 82,208 is a new world record attendance for a club rugby game. Munster lost to Leinster 6 - 25. Leinster ran in three trys to Munster's zero. The try scorers for Leinster were Gordon D'Arcy, Luke Fitzgerald and man-of-the-match, Brian O'Driscoll.^[7] On 15 May 2009 they were presented with the Magners League trophy after a 36 - 10 win over the Ospreys in Thomond Park. Federico Pucciariello, John O'Sullivan, Mike Prendergast, Kieran Lewis, Frankie Sheahan and Anthony Horgan all made their last appearance in this game. It was also the final time that Munster centre Rua Tipoki would be present as a Munster player. He had announced a number of weeks before the match that a recurring hamstring injury was to be responsible for forcing him out of the game and he returned to his native New Zealand at season end. ^[8]

Colours and logo

The 'three crowns' emblem used by Munster alludes to the three constituent historic kingdoms of Munster; Thomond in the north, Desmond in the south, and Ormonde in the east. A revamped logo was introduced for the 2003-04 season which included the addition of a stag with the three crowns.^[9] The crest was designed to maintain the three crowns, and the new red stag symbolizes strength and competitiveness.^[9] The decision for change was a product of two years of planning of research and design.^[9] Elements of navy were also introduced into mainly red Munster jersey. The current kit consists of a red shirt with blue trimming (such as the collar), blue shorts and red socks. The kit is made by Adidas, replacing Canterbury of New Zealand, in a deal covering kit supply for the next three seasons. The name of Munster's current title sponsors, Toyota appears on their shirt.

Home grounds

Munster have two main stadia where they play their home matches - Thomond Park in Limerick and Musgrave Park in Cork. Thomond Park is the bigger of the two, with a capacity of around 26,500, while Musgrave holds 8,300. As well as Munster, Shannon RFC and UL Bohemian RFC play at the grounds of Thomond Park. Thomond Park is famous for its atmosphere and unique history^[10] - its noise during play and complete silence when a player (home and away) is kicking at goal. It is also famous for Munster's intimidating record that it held for over a decade - having never been beaten at home during the Heineken Cup.^[11] However the record was broken during the 2006-07 season when they were defeated by the Leicester Tigers.^[11]Munster train in the University of Limerick.

Thomond Park went through a major renovation in 1999, and in 2006, Munster announced plans to upgrade it. In autumn 2008 the new 26,500 capacity stadium was opened. Two sweeping arches are one of the defining features of the stadium as well as the concourse outside of the new East Stand.^[12] A long discussion and consultation on the new name concluded with the decision that the name would remain Thomond Park.^[13]

Supporters

The strength of Munster's support was demonstrated during Munster's 2006 and 2008 Heineken Cup final wins. News reports detailed the lengths some fans were willing to go to secure tickets to the game. Some Munster fans travelled to Biarritz to buy up the French allocation of tickets.^[14] On the day of the game the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff was filled with a capacity crowd of 74,500. Of those numbers it is estimated that in excess of 55-65,000 were Munster fans^[15] with the remainder being neutrals and Biarritz supporters. The Millennium Stadium was intended to be a neutral venue but commentators on the day remarked that it could hardly be counted as such. In North America there is an official supporters club called Munster Rugby USA.^[16]

Munster have played in the most-attended quarter-final and semi-final matches of the Heineken Cup:

• 2009 Semi-final v Leinster, Croke Park, Dublin - 82,208 (also the largest crowd ever to attend any club rugby match)^[17]
• 2006 Quarter-final v Perpignan, Lansdowne Road, Dublin - 49,500^[18]

Munster's appearance in the 2002 final against Leicester Tigers at the Millennium Stadium, which drew 74,600, was the record attendance for a Heineken Cup final^[19] until the 2007 final between Leicester and London Wasps at the newly expanded Twickenham, although it is estimated that as many as 10,000 Munster fans attended this game, having bought tickets before Munster were knocked out of the competition. Munster's 2005 quarter-final against Biarritz Olympique in Estadio Anoeta, played as it was across the border in San Sebastián, with an attendance of 32,000 also set the record for the biggest rugby match ever played in Spain.^[20] Their October 2006 Celtic League game against Leinster at Lansdowne Road beat the record for that competition with an attendance of 27,252^[21] - this record lasted just two months however with the Leinster and Ulster match on 31 December 2006 filling Lansdowne Road (over 48,000 in attendance) for the last match at the stadium before redevelopment.^[22]

Munster fans are known for their silence when a kick is being taken, but also for their noise. Fans repeatedly chant "MUNSTER" or sing The Fields of Athenry (an Irish famine song about a place in Connacht) and Stand Up and Fight (from the Broadway musical Carmen Jones). They famously sang The Black Velvet Band to the Ospreys' Irish fullback Tommy Bowe during their 2009 Heineken Cup quarter final encounter.^[23] Tommy Bowe sang this song at the official reception for the 2009 Grand Slam winning Ireland rugby team.

Honours

• Heineken Cup
  • Winners: 2005-06, 2007-08: 2
  • Runners-up: 1999-00, 2001-02: 2
• Celtic League/Magners League:
  • Winners: 2002-03, 2008-09 : 2
• Celtic Cup:
  • Winners: 2004-05: 1
• Irish Inter-Provincial championship:
  • Winners: 22

Season records

Celtic League

Celtic League results
Year	Played	Win	Draw	Loss	PF	PA	Diff	BP	Points	Place
2001-02	6	5	0	1	228	120	118	0	15	1st (Pool B)
2002-03	7	6	0	1	227	129	98	4	28	1st (Pool A)
2003-04	22	10	0	12	422	456	-34	11	51	7th
2004-05	20	15	1	4	470	331	139	7	69	2nd
2005-06	20	12	0	8	439	372	67	10	58	3rd
2006-07	20	12	0	8	379	294	85	6	54	6th
2007-08	18	10	1	7	330	258	72	6	48	3rd
2008-09	18	14	0	4	405	257	148	8	63	1st

Heineken Cup

Heineken Cup results
Year	Played	Win	Draw	Loss	PF	PA	Diff	Points	Pool place	Play-offs
1995-96	2	1	0	1	33	27	+8	2	2nd
1996-97	4	2	0	2	109	135	-26	4	4th
1997-98	6	2	0	4	141	180	-39	4	3rd
1998-99	6	4	1	1	144	108	+36	9	2nd	Lost QF to US Colomiers
1999-00	6	5	0	1	188	132	+56	10	1st	Lost F to Northampton
2000-01	6	5	0	1	154	109	+45	10	1st	Lost SF to Stade Francais
2001-02	6	5	0	1	172	87	+85	10	2nd	Lost F to Leicester
2002-03	6	4	0	2	206	107	+99	8	2nd	Lost SF to Toulouse
2003-04	6	5	0	1	172	76	+96	24	1st	Lost SF to London Wasps
2004-05	6	5	0	1	121	74	+47	22	1st	Lost QF to Biarritz
2005-06	6	5	0	1	186	87	+99	23	1st	Champions, defeating Biarritz (23-19)
2006-07	6	5	0	1	152	112	+40	23	2nd	Lost QF to Llanelli Scarlets
2007-08	6	4	0	2	148	95	+53	19	1st	Champions, defeating Toulouse (16-13)
2008-09	6	5	0	1	161	98	+63	23	1st	Lost SF to Leinster (25-6)

Current squad (Season 2009/2010)

Backs

Name	Position	Home Country	Club
Denis Hurley	Full back	Ireland	Cork Constitution
Scott Deasy	Full back	Ireland	UCC
Felix Jones	Full back	Ireland
Ian Dowling	Wing	Ireland	Shannon
Doug Howlett	Wing	New Zealand
Ciaran O'Boyle	Wing	Ireland	Garryowen
Keith Earls	Centre	Ireland	Young Munster
Tom Gleeson	Centre	Ireland	Cork Constitution
Lifeimi Mafi	Centre	Tonga
Barry Murphy	Centre	Ireland	UL Bohemians
Jeremy Manning	Fly-half	New Zealand	Cork Constitution
Ronan O'Gara (Vice Captain)	Fly-half	Ireland	Cork Constitution
Paul Warwick	Fly-half	Australia	UL Bohemians
Toby Morland	Scrum Half	New Zealand
Tomás O'Leary	Scrum Half	Ireland	Dolphin
Peter Stringer	Scrum Half	Ireland	Shannon
Duncan Williams	Scrum Half	Ireland	Cork Constitution

Forwards

Name	Position	Home Country	Club
Tony Buckley	Prop	Ireland	Shannon
John Hayes	Prop	Ireland	Bruff R.F.C.
Marcus Horan	Prop	Ireland	Shannon
Darragh Hurley	Prop	Ireland	Cork Constitution
Jerry Flannery	Hooker	Ireland	Shannon
Denis Fogarty	Hooker	Ireland	Cork Constitution
Damien Varley	Hooker	Ireland
Donncha O'Callaghan	Lock	Ireland	Cork Constitution
Paul O'Connell (Captain)	Lock	Ireland	Young Munster
Mick O'Driscoll	Lock	Ireland	Cork Constitution
Donnacha Ryan	Lock	Ireland	Shannon
Billy Holland	Flanker	Ireland	UCC
Denis Leamy	Flanker	Ireland	Cork Constitution
Alan Quinlan	Flanker	Ireland	Shannon
Niall Ronan	Flanker	Ireland	Shannon
David Wallace	Flanker	Ireland	Garryowen
James Coughlan	No 8	Ireland	Dolphin
Nick Williams	No 8	New Zealand	Dolphin

Players in (Season 2009/2010)

• Felix Jones: From Leinster
• Toby Morland: From Chiefs
• Damien Varley: From London Wasps

Players out (Season 2009/2010)

• Brian Carney: To Warrington Wolves
• Conan Doyle: Released
• Michael Essex: Released
• Anthony Horgan: Retired
• Kieran Lewis: Retired
• Mark Melbourne: Released
• John O'Sullivan: To Agen
• Mike Prendergast: Released
• Federico Pucciariello: Retired
• Timmy Ryan: To Toulon
• Frankie Sheahan: Released
• Rua Tipoki: Retired

Notable players

British and Irish Lions

The following Munster players have also represented the British and Irish Lions ^[24][25].

W.J. Ashby: 1910 Oliver Piper: 1910 Michael Bradley: 1924 William Roche: 1924 Mick Lane: 1950 Tom Clifford: 1950 Jim McCarthy: 1950 Tom Reid: 1955 Michael English: 1959 Gordon Wood: 1959

Noel Murphy: 1959, 1966 Tom Kiernan: 1962, 1968 Jerry Walsh: 1966 Barry Bresnihan: 1966, 1968 Mick Doyle: 1968 Moss Keane: 1974, 1977 Colm Tucker: 1980 Tony Ward: 1980 Mike Kiernan: 1983 Gerry McLoughlin: 1983

Donal Lenihan: 1983, 1989 Mick Galwey: 1993 Richard Wallace: 1993 Keith Wood: 1997, 2001 Rob Henderson: 2001 Ronan O'Gara: 2001, 2005, 2009 David Wallace: 2001, 2009 John Hayes: 2005, 2009 Donncha O'Callaghan: 2005, 2009 Paul O'Connell: 2005, 2009 (Captain)

Keith Earls: 2009

Notable Overseas Players

• John Langford:
• Jim Williams: 2001 - 2005
• Christian Cullen: 2003 - 2007
• Trevor Halstead: 2005 - 2007
• Federico Pucciariello: 2005 - 2009
• Lifeimi Mafi: 2006 - Present
• Paul Warwick: 2007 - Present
• Rua Tipoki: 2007 - 2009
• Doug Howlett: 2008 - Present

Other Notables

• Tommy Moroney: Ireland soccer international.

See also

• Category:Munster Rugby players

References

Further reading

• English, A, (2005) Stand Up and Fight : When Munster Beats the All Blacks, Random House, London
• English, A, (2006) Munster: Our Road to Glory, Penguin Ireland, Dublin
• Murphy, E, (2006) Munster Rugby: The Secret of Their Success, Maverick House Publishers, Dublin
• Cronin, C, (2006) Beyond Our Wildest Dreams: Munster's Heineken Cup Odyssey, Tuatha Mumhan Books

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Munster Rugby

Wikinews has related news: Munster Rugby

• Official site
• Munster Supporters Site
• European Rugby Cup
• Celtic League Site
• Irish Rugby Site
• European Rankings

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