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Munster Rugby
Full name	Irish Rugby Football Union Munster Branch
Nickname(s)	The Red Army
Founded	1879
Location	Munster, Republic of Ireland
Ground	Thomond Park Musgrave Park
Capacity	12,500 8,000
Coach	Declan Kidney
Most appearances	Anthony Foley (132)
Top scorer	Ronan O'Gara (1,203)
Most tries	Anthony Horgan (33)
League	Celtic League
2005-06	3rd
Home colours		Away colours
Official website
www.munsterrugby.ie

Munster (also known as Munster Rugby) are an Irish professional rugby union team based in Munster, that competes in the Celtic League and Heineken Cup. They won the Heineken Cup final in 2006 to become the champions of Europe. The team represents the Irish Rugby Football Union Munster Branch, and encompus 15 domestic clubs. Their main home grounds are Thomond Park in Limerick and Musgrave Park in Cork.

The Munster Rugby branch was formed in 1879. Their most famous victory occurred in 1978 when they defeated the All Blacks. They remain 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 not making it past their group stage, Munster made the quarter finals in the 1998-99 season, and in the subsequent season made their first final appearance, though they lost to English club Northampton. They were again runners-up in 2001-02, losing to English club Leicester, though the following season they won their first Celtic League title, with the championship being introduced the previous season. In the third Heineken Cup final in 2005-06, Munster famously defeated French club Biarritz to win their first European championship.

Munster are known for their 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 Spain. Munster play in a red jersey, blue shorts and red socks. The Munster Rugby logo consists of three crowns and a stag.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Against the All Blacks 1.2 Late 1990s and early 2000s 1.3 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 (2006-2007) 8 Players in 9 Players out 10 Former players 11 Senior clubs 12 Major club competitions 13 Schools cups 14 References 15 Further reading 16 External links

Munster are the only Irish side to have beaten New Zealand. The 12-0 victory occurred on Tuesday 31 October 1978 at Thomond Park. Christy Cantillon scored a try with Tony Ward converting. Then Ward added a drop goal in each half. A stage play based on the game called Alone it Stands by John Breen and a book Stand Up and Fight: When Munster Beat the All Blacks by Alan English. Both have been commercially successful.^{[citation needed]} Munster also drew with the All Blacks in 1973. This victory is the stuff of Munster legend but little is made of the fact that Tony Ward is Leinster born and bred and was almost single-handedly responsible for victory.

They reached the Heineken Cup quarter-finals in 1998/1999, 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 1999/2000, 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 (2000/2001) with a semi-final defeat to Stade Français, again by one point. In 2001/2002 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 2002/2003, 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 2003/2004 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, but they were outplayed by a superior Wasps outfit after losing Ronan O'Gara to injury early on, resulting in a Wasps v Toulouse final. In 2004/2005, 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.

In 2005/2006, 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. Alan English, author of Stand Up and Fight: When Munster Beat the All Blacks was commissioned to write an official account of the 2005/2006 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 2006/2007 campaign.

In the 2006/2007 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. On Saturday January 20th 2007 Munster played Leicester in the final game before the re-development of Thomond Park. Leicester Tigers won the game 13-6 and ended Munster's Heineken Cup undefeated streak at Thomond Park.

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 Ormond in the east. A revamped logo (along with the current kit) was introduced for the 2003-04 season which included the addition of a stag with the three crowns.^[1] One of the reasons contributing to a change in logo was that the existing crest was not a symbol owned by the Munster branch (a generic Munster crest), whereas the new one is the property and patent of Munster Rugby (preventing unauthorised use of the crest).^[1] The decesion for change was a product of two years of planning of research and design.^[1] The crest is designed to maintain the three crowns, and the new red stag symbolizes strength and competitiveness.^[1] There is no intention to change it anymore.^[1] Elements of blue were also introduced into mainly red Munster jersey. The current kit consists of a red shirt with a small amount of blue (such as the collar), blue shorts and red socks. The jersey is made by Canterbury with Toyota featuring on the shirt.

Munster have two main stadiums 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 12,000, while Musgrave can hold around 8,000. As well as Munster, Shannon RFC and UL Bohemian R.F.C. play the grounds of Thomond Park. Thomond Park is famous for its atmosphere and unique history^[2] - 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.^[3] However the record was broken during the 2006-07 season when they were defeated by the Leicester Tigers.^[3]

Thomond Park went through a major rennovation in 1999, and in 2006, Munster announced plans to upgrade it to a new 26,000 stadium (15,000 stand seats and 11,000 terrace seats).^[4] The design for the redevelopment was unveiled in May of that year, and work on the stadium is set to begin some time in 2007. Munster hope to open the ground around Autumn in 2008. Two sweeping arches will be one of the defining features of the stadium as well as the concourse outside of the new East Stand.^[4]

This support was demonstrated during Munster's recent (2006) Heineken Cup win. There were many news reports of the lengths some fans were willing to go to secure tickets to the game and to travel to the game. Some Munster fans traveled to Biarritz to buy up the French allocation of tickets.^[5] On the day of the game the Millennium Stadium (which is in Wales) was filled with a capacity 74,500 crowd. Of those numbers it is estimated that in excess of 55-65,000 were Munster fans^[6] 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 a supporters club called Munster Rugby USA.^[7]

Munster have played in all games holding attendance records in the knock-out stages of the Heineken Cup. These are:

• Final. 2002, v Leicester, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff - 74,600^[8]
• Semi-final. 2004, v London Wasps, Lansdowne Road, Dublin - 49,500^[9]
• Quarter-final. 2006, v Perpignan, Lansdowne Road, Dublin - 49,500^[10]

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.^[11] Their October 2006 Celtic League game against Leinster at Lansdowne Road beat the record for that competition with an attendance of 27,252^[12] - 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.^[13]

• Celtic League:
  • Champions: 2002/3

• Celtic Cup:
  • Champions: 2004/5

• Irish Inter-Provincial championship:
  • Champions: 22 times

• Heineken Cup
  • Champions: 2005-06
  • Runners-up: 1999-00, 2001-02

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

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	2nd	Lost SF to London Wasps
2004-05	6	5	0	1	121	74	47	22	1st	Lost SF to Biarritz
2005-06	6	5	0	1	186	87	99	23	1st	Champions, defeating Biarritz

Nat. Position Player FB Christian Cullen WG Ian Dowling (Shannon) WG Anthony Horgan (Cork Constitution) WG John Kelly (Cork Constitution) WG Mossie Lawlor (Shannon) WG Ciaran O'Boyle CE Trevor Halstead CE Lifeimi Mafi CE Diogo Mateus CE Barry Murphy (UL Bohemians) CE Shaun Payne (Dolphin) FH Eoghan Hickey FH Jeremy Manning (U.C.C.) FH Ronan O'Gara (Cork Constitution) SH Chris Delooze SH Tomás O'Leary (Dolphin) SH Brian O'Meara (Cork Constitution) SH Peter Stringer (Shannon)

Nat. Position Player PR Tony Buckley (Shannon) PR John Hayes (Bruff RFC) PR Marcus Horan (Shannon) PR Eugene McGovern (Old Crescent) PR Federico Pucciariello (Old Crescent) PR Frank Roche (Shannon) HK Jerry Flannery (Shannon) HK Denis Fogarty (Cork Constitution) HK Andy Kyriacou HK Frankie Sheahan (Cork Constitution) LK Donncha O'Callaghan (Cork Constitution) LK Paul O'Connell (Young Munster) LK Shane O'Connor (Cork Constitution) LK Mick O'Driscoll (Cork Constitution) LK Donnacha Ryan (Shannon) LK Chris Wyatt FL Denis Leamy (Cork Constitution) FL Tim McGann FL Alan Quinlan (Shannon) FL David Wallace (Garryowen) N8 James Coughlan (Dolphin) N8 Brendan Cuttriss (Cork Constitution) N8 Anthony Foley (Shannon) N8 John O'Sullivan (Garryowen)

• Chris Wyatt from Llanelli Scarlets
• Eoghan Hickey from Leinster
• Brian Carney from Gold Coast Titans

• Gary Connolly
• Paul Burke to Leicester Tigers
• Trevor Hogan to Leinster
• Stephen Keogh to Leinster
• Rob Henderson to Toulon
• Mike Prendergast to Bourgoin
• Mike Mullins (Retired)
• Brian Tuohy Rotherham Titans
• Anton Pitout to Ricoh Black Rams
• Frank Murphy to Leicester Tigers
• Paul Devlin to SC Albi

• Keith Wood
• Tony Ward
• John Langford
• Jim Williams
• Donal Lenihan
• Mick Galwey
• Peter Clohessy

• Bruff
• Clonakilty
• Cork Constitution
• Dolphin
• Garryowen
• Highfield
• Midleton
• Nenagh Ormond
• Old Crescent
• Shannon
• Sundays Well
• Thomond
• U.C.C.
• UL Bohemians
• Waterpark
• Young Munster

• Munster Senior Cup
• Munster Senior League
• Munster Junior Cup

• Munster Schools Senior Cup
• Munster Schools Junior Cup

• 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

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

v • d • e Rugby union in Ireland
Federation:	Irish Rugby Football Union
National team:	Irish national team • Ireland Sevens • British and Irish Lions
International Competitions:	Rugby World Cup • Six Nations Championship • Heineken Cup • European Challenge Cup • European Shield • Celtic League • Rugby World Cup Sevens • IRB Sevens World Series
Celtic League Teams:	Connacht • Leinster • Munster • Ulster
Domestic Competitions:	AIB League
AIB League Division one teams:	Ballymena • Belfast Harlequins • Blackrock College • UL Bohemian RFC • Buccaneers • Clontarf • Cork Con • Dolphin • Dungannon • Galwegians • Garryowen • Lansdowne • Shannon • St. Mary's • Terenure College • UCD