2006 Heineken Cup Final

2006 Heineken Cup Final
Event 2005–06 Heineken Cup
Date 20 May 2006
Venue Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Referee Chris White (England)
Attendance 74,534

The 2006 Heineken Cup Final was the final match of the 2005–06 Heineken Cup, the 11th season of Europe's top club rugby union competition. The match was played on 20 May 2006 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. The match was contested by Biarritz of France and Munster of Ireland. Munster won the match 23–19.[1][2][3]

Munster were appearing in their third final after defeats in 2000 and 2002.[4][5]

Over two-thirds of the 75,000 crowd were supporting Munster in Cardiff, while 15,000 fans watched the match live on a big screen on O'Connell Street in Limerick with an estimated 40,000 turning out for the victorious homecoming in Limerick on 21 May.[6] The scenes from O'Connell Street in Limerick were shown live at pivotal points in the game on large video screens inside the Millennium Stadium, which Biarritz believed to have given Munster an unfair advantage.[7]

Summary

Sereli Bobo scored a controversial early try for Biarritz after two minutes, touching down in the left corner with his foot appearing to have been in touch as he ran in to score. Ronan O'Gara narrowed the gap with a seventh-minute penalty before Trevor Halstead powered over from close range on the left side of the pitch to get Munster's opening try after 17 minutes.[8] Dimitri Yachvili then levelled the scores with a 22nd-minute penalty. After 31 minutes, with the score level at 10–10, Munster got their second try of the game when Peter Stringer saw that opposite number Yachvili was out of position and rounded the blindside of the scrum on the right and ran untouched to go over and score in the right corner. O'Gara's conversion put Munster 17–10 ahead before half-time and a second penalty from O'Gara just after the interval put them further ahead.[9][10] Three penalties from Yachvili narrowed the gap to just one point with 10 minutes to go before O'Gara scored another penalty for Munster in the 73rd minute and they held out to win by four points.[11]

Match details

20 May 2006
15:00 BST
Biarritz France 19–23 Ireland Munster
Try: Bobo 2' c
Con: Yachvili
Pen: Yachvili (4) 22', 48', 51', 70'
 Report Try: Halstead 17' c
Stringer 31' c
Con: O'Gara (2)
Pen: O'Gara (3) 7', 42', 73'
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Attendance: 74,534
Referee: Chris White (England)
FB 15France Nicolas Brusque
RW 14France Jean-Baptiste Gobelet
OC 13France Philippe Bidabé
IC 12France Damien Traille
LW 11Fiji Sireli Bobo
FH 10France Julien Peyrelongue
SH 9 France Dimitri Yachvili
N8 8 France Thomas Lièvremont (c)
OF 7 France Imanol Harinordoquy
BF 6 France Serge Betsen
RL 5 France David Couzinet
LL 4 France Jérôme Thion
TP 3 Samoa Census Johnston
HK 2 France Benoît August
LP 1 Romania Petru Bălan
Replacements:
HK 16France Benjamin Noirot
PR 17France Benoît Lecouls
N8 18France Olivier Olibeau
FL 19France Thierry Dusautoir
SH 20Argentina Manuel Carizza
FH 21France Julien Dupuy
CE 22Argentina Federico Martín Aramburú
Coach:
France Patrice Lagisquet
FB 15South Africa Shaun Payne
RW 14Ireland Anthony Horgan
OC 13Ireland John Kelly
IC 12South Africa Trevor Halstead
LW 11Ireland Ian Dowling
FH 10Ireland Ronan O'Gara
SH 9 Ireland Peter Stringer
N8 8 Ireland Anthony Foley (c)
OF 7 Ireland David Wallace
BF 6 Ireland Denis Leamy
RL 5 Ireland Paul O'Connell
LL 4 Ireland Donncha O'Callaghan
TP 3 Ireland John Hayes
HK 2 Ireland Jerry Flannery
LP 1 Ireland Marcus Horan
Replacements:
HK 16Ireland Denis Fogarty
PR 17Argentina Federico Pucciariello
PR 18Ireland Mick O'Driscoll
LK 19Ireland Alan Quinlan
BR 20Ireland Tomas O'Leary
SH 21Ireland Jeremy Manning
FH 22Ireland Rob Henderson
Coach:
Ireland Declan Kidney

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Munster 23-19 Biarritz". BBC Sport. 20 May 2006. Retrieved 21 July 2009.
  2. ↑ "Munster finally claim Heineken Cup". Guardian. 20 May 2006. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
  3. ↑ "In a wine-red sea, victory is Munster's at last". New York Times. 21 May 2006. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  4. ↑ "Munster's Mission". BBC Sport. 18 May 2006. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  5. ↑ "Munster desperate for final glory". BBC Sport. 17 May 2006. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  6. ↑ "Forty thousand shades of welcome as champions return to huge victory celebration". Guardian. 22 May 2006. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  7. ↑ "Biarritz see red at Limerick scenes shown during final". Irish Examiner. 29 May 2006. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  8. ↑ "Heineken Cup final match-tracker". RTÉ Sport. 20 May 2006. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  9. ↑ "Munster end years of woe and the town is painted red". Guardian. 21 May 2006. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  10. ↑ "Emotional Stringer earns place in history by beating Bobo on a wing and a prayer". Guardian. 22 May 2006. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  11. ↑ "Munster Formation 2006 Heineken Cup Final". Munster Rugby. Retrieved 26 February 2014.