Leinster Rugby

Leinster Rugby

Nickname(s)	Les Bleus, Boys in Blue
Founded	1879 (1879)
Location	Dublin, Ireland
Ground(s)	RDS Arena (Capacity: 18,500) Aviva Stadium (Capacity: 51,700)
CEO	Mick Dawson
Coach(es)	Matt O'Connor
Captain(s)	Jamie Heaslip
Most caps	Gordon D'Arcy (248)
Top scorer	Felipe Contepomi (1,225)
Most tries	Shane Horgan (69)
League(s)	Pro12
2013–14	1st (Champions)
1st kit 2nd kit
Official website
www.leinsterrugby.ie

Leinster Rugby (Irish: Rugbaí Laighean) is one of the four professional provincial rugby teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the Pro12 and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) Leinster Branch, which is one of four primary branches of the IRFU and is responsible for rugby union throughout the geographical Irish province of Leinster.

Leinster play their home games primarily at the RDS Arena, although larger games are played in the Aviva Stadium when the capacity of the RDS is insufficient.^[1] Before moving to the RDS in 2005, Leinster's traditional home ground was Donnybrook Stadium, in Dublin 4. The province plays primarily in blue and the team crest features a harp within a rugby ball, the harp being taken from the flag of Leinster.

Leinster turned professional along with its fellow Irish provinces in 1995 and has competed in the Pro12 (formerly known as the Celtic League and the Magners League) since it was founded in 2001, having previously competed in the annual Irish interprovincial championship.^[2] Leinster "A" competes in the British and Irish Cup. Leinster have four times been PRO12 champions and three times champions of Europe.

On 19 May 2012 Leinster won a record Third European Cup in four years with a 42–14 win over Ulster Rugby in the first final to feature two teams from Ireland.^[3] Leinster are currently ranked 1st in the European Rugby Club Rankings.^[4]

History

Founding (1875–1899)

Investigation of potential copyright issue Please note this is about the text of this Wikipedia article; it should not be taken to reflect on the subject of this article. Do not restore or edit the blanked content on this page until the issue is resolved by an administrator, copyright clerk or OTRS agent.
If you have just labeled this page as a potential copyright issue, please follow the instructions for filing at the bottom of the box.
The previous content of this page or section has been identified as posing a potential copyright issue, as a copy or modification of the text from the source(s) below, and is now listed on Wikipedia:Copyright problems (listing): http://www.leinsterrugby.ie/branch/about/index.php (Duplication Detector report)   Unless the copyright status of the text on this page is clarified, the problematic text or the entire page may be deleted one week after the time of its listing. Temporarily, the original posting is still accessible for viewing in the page history.
Can you help resolve this issue?  If you hold the copyright to this text, you can license it in a manner that allows its use on Wikipedia. Click "Show" to see how.  You must permit the use of your material under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Unported License (CC-BY-SA) and the GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) (unversioned, with no invariant sections, front-cover texts, or back-cover texts). Explain your intent to license the content on this article's discussion page To confirm your permission, you can either display a notice to this effect at the site of original publication or send an e-mail from an address associated with the original publication to permissions-en at wikimedia dot org or a postal letter to the Wikimedia Foundation. These messages must explicitly permit use under CC-BY-SA and the GFDL. See Wikipedia:Donating copyrighted materials. Note that articles on Wikipedia must be written from a neutral point of view and must be verifiable in published third-party sources; consider whether, copyright issues aside, your text is appropriate for inclusion in Wikipedia.  To demonstrate that this text is in the public domain, or is already under a license suitable for Wikipedia, click "Show".  Explain this on this article's discussion page, with reference to evidence. Wikipedia:Public domain and Wikipedia:Compatibly licensed may assist in determining the status.  Otherwise, you may write a new article without copyright-infringing material. Click "Show" to read where and how.  Your rewrite should be placed on this page, where it will be available for an administrator or clerk to review it at the end of the listing period. Follow this link to create the temporary subpage. Simply modifying copyrighted text is not sufficient to avoid copyright infringement—if the original copyright violation cannot be cleanly removed or the article reverted to a prior version, it is best to write the article from scratch. (See Wikipedia:Close paraphrasing.) For license compliance, any content used from the original article must be properly attributed; if you use content from the original, please leave a note at the top of your rewrite saying as much. You may duplicate non-infringing text that you had contributed yourself. It is always a good idea, if rewriting, to identify the point where the copyrighted content was imported to Wikipedia and to check to make sure that the contributor did not add content imported from other sources. When closing investigations, clerks and administrators may find other copyright problems than the one identified. If this material is in the proposed rewrite and cannot be easily removed, the rewrite may not be usable. State that you have created a rewrite on this article's discussion page.
About importing text to Wikipedia Posting copyrighted material without the express permission of the copyright holder is unlawful and against Wikipedia policy. If you have express permission, this must be verified either by explicit release at the source or by e-mail or letter to the Wikimedia Foundation. See Wikipedia:Declaration of consent for all enquiries. Policy requires that we block those who repeatedly post copyrighted material without express permission.	Instructions for filing If you have tagged the article for investigation, please complete the following steps: Add the following to the bottom of Wikipedia:Copyright_problems/2014 July 13 * {{subst:article-cv|:Leinster Rugby}} from http://www.leinsterrugby.ie/branch/about/index.php. ~~~~ Place this notice on the talk page of the contributor of the copyrighted material: {{subst:Nothanks-web|pg=Leinster Rugby|url=http://www.leinsterrugby.ie/branch/about/index.php}} ~~~~ To blank a section instead of an entire article, add the template to the beginning of the section and </div> at the end of the portion you intend to blank.

Amateur period (1900 – 1990s)

The early 1920s led to the creation of the Provincial Towns Cup and the Metropolitan Cup, which are still hard fought competitions in the Leinster Rugby calendar. Much has changed in rugby over the years, but the original idea of Leinster Club Rugby acting as a feeder for the Leinster Interprovincial side, though now professional, still stands true.

All Interprovincial matches were abandoned during the years of the Great War (1914–18) and the War period (1939–45), though unofficial matches were played.^[5]

The first major touring side to play Leinster was a team drawn from the New Zealand Army – the Kiwis, in 1946. Although it was not an official touring side organised by the New Zealand Rugby Union, the quality of the match, which was drawn 10 points each, is still remembered to this day.^[5]

The first official overseas touring side that came to play Leinster was an Australian touring side in 1957.^[5] Since then, Leinster has played against every major touring side from Fiji to France.^[5]

Before the days of professional rugby union, there was further emphasis on Irish club rugby as opposed to the provincial game. During these times the provincial sides were purely representative sides and games were far less frequent than now. Between 1946 and 2002 the sides would meet annually to contest the Irish Interprovincial Championship and on rare occasion would be tested against touring international sides. When rugby union was declared 'open' in 1995, these four teams became the four professional teams run by the Irish Rugby Football Union and therefore much of the history of the side has been made in the modern era.

Leinster Lions (1990s–2005)

Leinster became a professional outfit in the mid-1990s. The "Leinster Lions" name came into existence during the 2001–02 season as the result of a joint marketing initiative between Leinster Rugby and its kit sponsors, the Canterbury Clothing Company. Before the start of the 2004–05 season however, the 'Lions' was dropped from the name. It is still used for marketing and branding, in particular the Cubs Club for Junior members of Leinster Rugby.^[6] The Leinster mascot is "Leo the Lion".

Leinster's first season in the newly formed Celtic League ended in success as the Lions were crowned the inaugural champions, beating rivals Munster Rugby in the 2001–02 final.^[7] In 2002–03, they became only the third team in the history of the European Cup to win all their games in pool play. They also went one step further in the playoffs than the previous season by reaching the semi-finals (for the first time since 1995–96), but lost at home against French side Perpignan, which was accompanied by an unsuccessful season in the Celtic League. The 2003–04 season also ended in disappointment as Leinster slumped to their worst ever league performance and failed to qualify from their European Cup group.

Title misses (2004–07)

Leinster improved during the 2004–05 season, finishing 3rd, just 3 points behind the eventual winners, the Ospreys.^[8] Leinster also won all of their pool games in that year's European Cup, and were again among the favourites for the title, however they went out at the quarter final stage to Leicester Tigers.^[9]

The next two seasons of the Celtic League were to end in near misses for Leinster, as they lost out on the 2005–06 and 2006–07 league titles on the final day of the season. These seasons also saw progress in the European Cup. In 2005–06, Leinster progressed to the semi-final but were eliminated by Irish rivals Munster at Lansdowne Road and they reached the quarter-final the following year where they were beaten by eventual winners London Wasps.

European and domestic success (2008–Present)

Increasing attendances at Leinster games led to a move across Dublin 4 from Donnybrook Stadium to the redeveloped RDS Arena.

In 2007–08, Leinster failed to qualify from their European Cup pool, but did end the season as Celtic League champions, sealing the title with a 41–8 victory over the Newport Gwent Dragons in front of their home fans at the RDS.^[10]

In the 2008–09 season, Leinster topped their European Cup pool despite away losses to French side Castres and English side Wasps.^[11] Victory over Harlequins in the quarter-finals followed, despite the Bloodgate Scandal. Leinster overcame Munster 25–6 in a semi-final in Dublin's Croke Park that broke the world record attendance for a "club" rugby union game with a crowd of over 82,200.^[12] Leinster won the 2009 European Cup Final in Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, beating Leicester Tigers 19–16 to claim their first European crown.^[13]

In 2009–10 Leinster was eliminated from the European Cup at the semi-final stage by eventual winners Toulouse. Also despite having topped the Pro12 league during the regular season, Leinster lost the first ever Play-off Final 17–12 on their home ground to the Ospreys.^[14]

In the 2010–11 European Cup, Leinster defeated the top English teams (Leicester Tigers, Saracens & Northampton Saints), as well as top French sides, Toulouse (who were the defending European champions), Racing Metro & Clermont Auvergne, (the French Champions).^[15] to go on to regain their title as champions of Europe in the 2011 European Cup Final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Trailing at half time, Leinster scored 27 unanswered points in the second half to beat Northampton 33 – 22 and claim their second European crown with the biggest comeback in European Cup final history.^[16][17] Leinster were also chasing a Pro12 & European Cup double, but lost 19 – 9 to Irish rivals Munster in the Pro12 Final.^[18]

In 2011–12 Leinster became only the second side ever to retain the title of European Champions. Leinster emerged unbeaten in group play to top their group^[19] and went on to defeat the Cardiff Blues 34–3 in the quarterfinals,^[20] followed by a 19–15 semifinal victory over ASM Clermont Auvergne.^[21] and defeated Ulster in the first all-Irish final 42–14, recording the most points scored and the most tries scored in a European Cup final as well as becoming the first unbeaten side to win the European Cup.^[22] Once again, Leinster targeted the double, and faced a repeat of the 2010 Pro12 final against the Ospreys. However, Leinster's domestic title challenge fell at the final hurdle, conceding a final minute try to slump to a one point defeat, and unable to complete the double despite topping the table in the regular season.^[23]

The 2012–13 campaign proved to be another successful season for Leinster Rugby. The club finished in second place during the regular season of the Pro12 and defeated Glasgow Warriors by a score of 17–15 in their semi-final play-off match on 11 May 2013.^[24] On 17 May, Leinster were crowned champions of the European Challenge Cup after defeating Stade Français 34–13 in the final at their home ground, the RDS Arena.^[25] Leinster successfully completed the double on 25 May, defeating Ulster 24–18 in the Pro12 final to claim their third league championship.^[26][27]

Leinster continued their success in the 2013–14 season by becoming the first team ever to defend the Pro12 title, topping the league in the regular season and defeating Glasgow Warriors 34 – 12 in their 5th consecutive Pro12 play-off final and also secured their 7th major title in as many years.^[28]

Previous season standings

European Rugby Champions Cup
Season	Pool/Round	Pos	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Bonus	Points
1995–96	Pool C	1st	2	2	0	0	–	4
	Semi-final	Leinster 14 – 23 Cardiff
1996–97	Pool B	3rd	4	2	0	2	–	4
1997–98	Pool A	3rd	6	2	0	4	–	4
1998–99	Pool A	4th	6	2	0	4	–	4
1999–2000	Pool 1	2nd	6	4	0	2	–	8
2000–01	Pool 1	2nd	6	3	1	2	–	7
2001–02	Pool 6	1st	6	5	0	1	–	10
	Quarter-final	Leicester Tigers 29 – 18 Leinster
2002–03	Pool 4	1st	6	6	0	0	–	12
	Quarter-final	Leinster 18 – 13 Biarritz Olympique
	Semi-final	Leinster 14 – 21 USA Perpignan
2003–04	Pool 3	2nd	6	4	0	2	2	18
2004–05	Pool 4	1st	6	6	0	0	2	26
	Quarter-final	Leinster 13 – 29 Leicester Tigers
2005–06	Pool 5	2nd	6	4	0	2	6	22
	Quarter-final	Toulouse 35 – 41 Leinster
	Semi-final	Leinster 6 – 30 Munster
2006–07	Pool 2	1st	6	4	0	2	5	21
	Quarter-final	London Wasps 35 – 13 Leinster
2007–08	Pool 6	3rd	6	3	0	3	0	12
2008–09	Pool 2	1st	6	4	0	2	4	20
	Quarter-final	Harlequins 5 – 6 Leinster
	Semi-final	Munster 6 – 25 Leinster
	Final	Leinster 19 – 16 Leicester Tigers
2009–10	Pool 6	1st	6	4	1	1	4	22
	Quarter-final	Leinster 29 – 28 ASM Clermont Auvergne
	Semi-final	Toulouse 26 – 16 Leinster
2010–11	Pool 2	1st	6	5	0	1	4	24
	Quarter-final	Leinster 17 – 10 Leicester Tigers
	Semi-final	Leinster 32 – 23 Toulouse
	Final	Leinster 33 – 22 Northampton Saints
2011–12	Pool 3	1st	6	5	1	0	2	24
	Quarter-final	Leinster 34 – 3 Cardiff
	Semi-final	ASM Clermont Auvergne 15 – 19 Leinster
	Final	Leinster 42 – 14 Ulster
2012–13	Pool 5	2nd	6	4	0	2	4	20
2013–14	Pool 1	1st	6	5	0	1	2	22
	Quarter-final	RC Toulon 29 – 14 Leinster
2014–15	Pool 2	1st	6	4	1	1	2	20
	Quarter-final	Leinster 18 - 15 Bath
	Semi-final	RC Toulon 25 - 20 Leinster

European Rugby Challenge Cup
Season	Round	Result
2012–13	Quarter-Final	London Wasps 28 – 48 Leinster
	Semi-final	Leinster 44 – 16 Biarritz
	Final	Leinster 34 – 13 Stade Français

Pro12
Season	Pos	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Bonus	Points
2001–02	1st (Pool A)	7	7	0	0	0	21
	Quarter-Final	Leinster 34 – 22 Newport
	Semi-final	Leinster 35 – 13 Glasgow
	Final	Leinster 24 – 20 Munster
2002–03	5th (Pool B)	7	3	0	4	6	18
2003–04	8th	22	9	1	12	9	47
2004–05	3rd	20	12	1	7	7	57
2005–06	2nd	20	14	0	6	10	74[n 1]
2006–07	3rd	20	12	1	7	11	61
2007–08	1st	18	13	1	4	7	61
2008–09	3rd	18	11	1	6	6	52
2009–10	1st	18	13	0	5	3	55
	Semi-final	Leinster 16 – 6 Munster
	Final	Leinster 12 – 17 Ospreys
2010–11	2nd	22	15	1	6	8	70
	Semi-final	Leinster 18 – 3 Ulster
	Final	Munster 19 – 9 Leinster
2011–12	1st	22	18	1	3	7	81
	Semi-final	Leinster 19 – 15 Glasgow
	Final	Leinster 30 – 31 Ospreys
2012–13	2nd	22	17	0	5	10	78
	Semi-final	Leinster 17 – 15 Glasgow
	Final	Ulster 18 – 24 Leinster
2013–14	1st	22	17	1	4	12	82
	Semi-final	Leinster 13 – 9 Ulster
	Final	Leinster 34 – 12 Glasgow
↑ 11 teams were involved in this season, so one team did not play each week and were awarded 4 points instead. Therefore, each team finished the season with 8 more points than the table would seem to warrant.

Current standings

Pro12

Pro12 Table
	Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points For	Points Against	Points Difference	Tries For	Tries Against	Try Bonus	Losing Bonus	Points
1	Glasgow Warriors (Q)	20	15	1	4	498	329	+169	58	30	8	0	70
2	Munster (Q)	20	14	1	5	508	317	+191	59	25	7	3	68
3	Ulster (Q)	20	14	1	5	491	317	+174	56	29	6	3	67
4	Ospreys (Q)	20	14	1	5	501	328	+173	48	27	6	2	66
5	Leinster	20	9	3	8	437	352	+85	48	37	7	4	53
6	Scarlets	20	9	3	8	419	369	+50	40	37	4	3	49
7	Edinburgh	20	10	1	9	371	364	+7	38	42	3	3	48
8	Connacht	20	9	1	10	387	385	+2	41	44	2	4	44
9	Newport Gwent Dragons	20	7	0	13	347	429	−82	33	46	3	6	37
10	Cardiff Blues	20	6	1	13	395	524	−129	41	55	2	2	30
11	Benetton Treviso	20	3	1	16	293	614	−321	32	78	2	2	18
12	Zebre	20	3	0	17	251	570	−319	25	69	0	3	15
If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:[29] number of matches won; the difference between points for and points against; the number of tries scored; the most points scored; the difference between tries for and tries against; the fewest number of red cards received; the fewest number of yellow cards received.
Green background (rows 1 to 4) are play-off places, and earn a place in the European Rugby Champions Cup. Blue background indicates teams outside the play-off places, that earn a place in the European Rugby Champions Cup. The top team from each country will qualify. Yellow background indicates the team that advances to a play-off semi-final against the seventh placed side from the Aviva Premiership, or the 2014–15 European Rugby Challenge Cup winners if they have not already qualified for the competition.[30] Plain background indicates teams that earn a place in the European Rugby Challenge Cup.

Pool 2

Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
Leinster (4)	6	4	1	1	148	101	+47	13	9	1	1	20
Wasps (7)	6	3	1	2	155	105	+50	18	12	2	2	18
Harlequins	6	4	0	2	135	99	+36	13	7	1	1	18
Castres Olympique	6	0	0	6	86	219	−133	10	26	0	1	1

Honours

• European Rugby Champions Cup^{[note 1]}
  • Winners: 3 (2009, 2011, 2012)

• European Rugby Challenge Cup^{[note 2]}
  • Winners: 1 (2013)

• Pro12^{[note 3]}
  • Winners: 4 (2002, 2008, 2013, 2014)
  • Runners-up: 4 (2006, 2010, 2011, 2012)

• British & Irish Cup
  • Winners: 2 (2013, 2014)

• Irish Inter-Provincial Championship^{[note 4][31]}
  • Winners: 22 (1949, 1950*, 1955*, 1957*, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965*, 1972, 1973*, 1976*, 1978*, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983*, 1984, 1994*, 1996, 1998*, 2002)

Colours and crest

Investigation of potential copyright issue Please note this is about the text of this Wikipedia article; it should not be taken to reflect on the subject of this article. Do not restore or edit the blanked content on this page until the issue is resolved by an administrator, copyright clerk or OTRS agent.
If you have just labeled this page as a potential copyright issue, please follow the instructions for filing at the bottom of the box.
The previous content of this page or section has been identified as posing a potential copyright issue, as a copy or modification of the text from the source(s) below, and is now listed on Wikipedia:Copyright problems (listing): http://www.leinsterrugby.ie/branch/about/the_harp.php (Duplication Detector report)   Unless the copyright status of the text on this page is clarified, the problematic text or the entire page may be deleted one week after the time of its listing. Temporarily, the original posting is still accessible for viewing in the page history.
Can you help resolve this issue?  If you hold the copyright to this text, you can license it in a manner that allows its use on Wikipedia. Click "Show" to see how.  You must permit the use of your material under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Unported License (CC-BY-SA) and the GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) (unversioned, with no invariant sections, front-cover texts, or back-cover texts). Explain your intent to license the content on this article's discussion page To confirm your permission, you can either display a notice to this effect at the site of original publication or send an e-mail from an address associated with the original publication to permissions-en at wikimedia dot org or a postal letter to the Wikimedia Foundation. These messages must explicitly permit use under CC-BY-SA and the GFDL. See Wikipedia:Donating copyrighted materials. Note that articles on Wikipedia must be written from a neutral point of view and must be verifiable in published third-party sources; consider whether, copyright issues aside, your text is appropriate for inclusion in Wikipedia.  To demonstrate that this text is in the public domain, or is already under a license suitable for Wikipedia, click "Show".  Explain this on this article's discussion page, with reference to evidence. Wikipedia:Public domain and Wikipedia:Compatibly licensed may assist in determining the status.  Otherwise, you may write a new article without copyright-infringing material. Click "Show" to read where and how.  Your rewrite should be placed on this page, where it will be available for an administrator or clerk to review it at the end of the listing period. Follow this link to create the temporary subpage. Simply modifying copyrighted text is not sufficient to avoid copyright infringement—if the original copyright violation cannot be cleanly removed or the article reverted to a prior version, it is best to write the article from scratch. (See Wikipedia:Close paraphrasing.) For license compliance, any content used from the original article must be properly attributed; if you use content from the original, please leave a note at the top of your rewrite saying as much. You may duplicate non-infringing text that you had contributed yourself. It is always a good idea, if rewriting, to identify the point where the copyrighted content was imported to Wikipedia and to check to make sure that the contributor did not add content imported from other sources. When closing investigations, clerks and administrators may find other copyright problems than the one identified. If this material is in the proposed rewrite and cannot be easily removed, the rewrite may not be usable. State that you have created a rewrite on this article's discussion page.
About importing text to Wikipedia Posting copyrighted material without the express permission of the copyright holder is unlawful and against Wikipedia policy. If you have express permission, this must be verified either by explicit release at the source or by e-mail or letter to the Wikimedia Foundation. See Wikipedia:Declaration of consent for all enquiries. Policy requires that we block those who repeatedly post copyrighted material without express permission.	Instructions for filing If you have tagged the article for investigation, please complete the following steps: Add the following to the bottom of Wikipedia:Copyright_problems/2014 July 13 * {{subst:article-cv|:Leinster Rugby}} from http://www.leinsterrugby.ie/branch/about/the_harp.php. ~~~~ Place this notice on the talk page of the contributor of the copyrighted material: {{subst:Nothanks-web|pg=Leinster Rugby|url=http://www.leinsterrugby.ie/branch/about/the_harp.php}} ~~~~ To blank a section instead of an entire article, add the template to the beginning of the section and </div> at the end of the portion you intend to blank.

The current crest was introduced in 2005 as Leinster Rugby held no copyright on the previous crest. The new, stylised crest, is made specific to Leinster Rugby as it incorporates the harp with a rugby ball.^[32] The Leinster Rugby crest is on all official club merchandise including replica jerseys.

The province's current kit is blue with a white harp and 12 white lines, which represent the 12 counties of Leinster, whilst the second kit is white with a blue harp and 12 blue lines.

The Leinster jersey also features three stars above the crest, to represent the three European Cup titles won to date.

Results versus Touring Sides

Scores and results list Leinster's points tally first.

Date	Opponent	Location	Result	Score	Notes
17 November 1945	New Zealand Kiwis[note 5]	Lansdowne Road, Dublin	Drew	10-10	Details of Tour
27 November 1957	Australia	Lansdowne Road, Dublin	Lost	8 - 10
1 February 1961	South Africa	Lansdowne Road, Dublin	Lost	5–12
22 January 1964	New Zealand	Lansdowne Road, Dublin	Lost	3–11
7 December 1966	Australia	Lansdowne Road, Dublin	Lost	3–9
15 November 1972	New Zealand	Lansdowne Road, Dublin	Lost	9-17
15 September 1973	Fiji	Lansdowne Road, Dublin	Won	30-9
13 November 1974	New Zealand	Lansdowne Road, Dublin	Lost	3–8	Match Highlights
21 October 1978	Argentina	Lansdowne Road, Dublin	Lost	13 - 24
30 December 1979	Italy	Donnybrook, Dublin	Won	26 - 10
8 October 1980	Romania	Donnybrook, Dublin	Won	24–10
8 November 1989	New Zealand	Lansdowne Road, Dublin	Lost	9–36
17 October 1992	Australia	Lansdowne Road, Dublin	Lost	11-38
24 August 1999	Argentina	Donnybrook, Dublin	Lost	22–51	Match Report

Stadia

RDS Arena

Leinster's current home ground is the RDS Arena.^[33] Games were first played at the RDS during the 2005–06 season, initially just for European Cup games. By the following season however, all games had been moved to the RDS. The RDS has undergone large scale redevelopment since Leinster moved in. The arena now has a mostly seated capacity of 18,500. As the RDS remains a showjumping venue, the North and South stands are removable. A roof has been constructed to cover the grandstand opposite the pre-existing Anglesea stand.^[34] The RDS will be Leinster's home until 2027, as a 20-year lease was signed in 2007.^[35]

In July 2014, it was announced by the RDS and Leinster rugby that a design competition was being held to develop the arena into a 25,000 capacity world class stadium, with work expected to commence on the redevelopment in April 2016.^[36] The selling of naming rights to the arena will be a key component in funding the project, with an initial budget of €20,000,000 being proposed.^[37]

Aviva Stadium

For bigger games where the RDS does not have sufficient capacity, Leinster play their games at the Aviva Stadium, which has an all-seater capacity of 51,700. These are often key home games in the European Cup or Pro12 games against domestic rivals. In 2010 they first played a home league game against Munster, the first time the stadium sold out,^[38] and then against ASM Clermont Auvergne.^[39][40][41] Leinster defeated Leicester Tigers at the venue in the 2010–11 European Cup quarter-finals and went on to beat Toulouse in the semi-finals, also held at the Aviva stadium on 30 April 2011, en route to winning their second European Cup.^[42] The following season Leinster hosted Munster, Bath and Cardiff at the Aviva Stadium and remained unbeaten at the ground until December 2012 when they lost 21–28 to ASM Clermont Auvergne.

Donnybrook Stadium

Leinster's traditional home over the years has been Donnybrook Stadium in Donnybrook, Dublin 4. Donnybrook consists of a single covered stand and three sides of open terracing. A move across Dublin 4 to the RDS Arena for Leinster was needed to accommodate growing crowds, as the 6,000 capacity stadium had become too small.^[43] For this reason, Leinster have signed a long term lease with the Royal Dublin Society to play home games at the RDS Arena. Donnybrook has since, however, been improved as a venue with the reconstruction of the grandstand in 2008^[44] and remains an important venue for rugby union in Dublin.^[5] Due to limited space, it is unlikely that Donnybrook will undergo further redevelopment. Leinster A play their British and Irish Cup games in the stadium and the senior team have continued to hold certain pre-season friendlies in the stadium as well as most Leinster schools cup matches being held at the venue.^[45][46]

Supporters

Before the advent of professionalism in the Irish game, provincial rugby games were generally poorly attended. During most of the 1990s, Leinster matches regularly attracted crowds of about 500 to 2,000.^[47] The decision to structure the game professionally via the provincial network through centralised player contracts and the subsequent on-field success achieved by Leinster and the other provinces resulted in a significant increase in support within a decade.^[47] Leinster had 3,700 season ticket holders in 2006, double the amount of the previous season.^[47] Leinster's supporters were named as 'Player of the Month' for April 2009 following their support in the European Cup Quarter Final against Harlequins at The Stoop.^[48] Leinster's average crowd numbers have risen considerably in recent years from 3,926 during the first season of the PRO12, to the current PRO12 average of 18,682.^[49] Leinster currently have roughly 12,500 season ticket holders.^[50]

Leinster hold the record for the biggest PRO12 attendance. On 2 October 2010, Leinster played Munster in the 5th round of the league at the Aviva Stadium, this set a new crowd attendance record for a PRO12 game at 50,645. Leinster won the match 13–9.^[51]

The last match at the old Landsdowne Road stadium was against Ulster on 31 December 2006 before it was demolished to make way for the new Aviva Stadium, earning the match the moniker of "The Last Stand". Leinster won the match 20–12, with an attendance of 48,000 – a record at the time.^[52] A previous attendance record in the PRO12 was also set at Lansdowne Road, for a game between Leinster and Munster which drew a crowd of 30,000.^[53] Leinsters European Cup clash against Munster at Croke Park set a world record attendance for a "club" rugby union game with a crowd of 82,208.^[54] The Official Leinster Supporters Club was formally established as a club in 2007.^[55]

Leinster A

Leinster A is the team that represents Leinster in the British & Irish Cup^[56] and in the All Ireland Inter-provincial Championship. Pre-professionalism and a formal Celtic league structure, the main Leinster team competed in the AIPC. Since the advent of professionalism the provinces have fielded lesser teams to concentrate on the Celtic League. The team is composed of Senior Leinster squad players requiring gametime, Academy players and AIL players called up from their clubs.

Sponsorship

As of the 2014/2015 season the club are sponsored by Bank of Ireland, the country's oldest banking institution. However, on occasion the team will wear a shirt adorned with the logo of another sponsor due to a promotion run annually by the bank offering up the sponsorship space to an Irish business by way of a competition to win the right to become sponsor for a day.^[57] During the 2013/2014 season the contest was won by Dublin based meat wholesaler Gahan Meats^[58] and for 2014/2015 the shirt sponsorship winners were accounting software provider Big Red Cloud.^[59] The sponsorship prize package is valued at €50,000 and attracts hundreds of companies keen to be shortlisted each year.^[60]

Management & Coaches

Position	Name	Nationality
Chief Executive	Mick Dawson	Ireland
Head Coach	Matt O'Connor	Australia
Team Manager	Guy Easterby	Ireland
Forwards Coach	Leo Cullen	Ireland
Scrum Coach	Marco Caputo	Australia
Skills & Kicking Coach	Richie Murphy	Ireland
Academy Director	Girvan Dempsey	Ireland

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.

Player Position Union Sean Cronin Hooker Ireland Aaron Dundon Hooker Ireland Richardt Strauss Hooker Ireland James Tracy Hooker Ireland Michael Bent Prop Ireland Tadhg Furlong Prop Ireland Cian Healy Prop Ireland Sean McCarthy Prop Ireland Jack McGrath Prop Ireland Martin Moore Prop Ireland Mike Ross Prop Ireland Tom Denton* Lock England Kane Douglas Lock Australia Ben Marshall Lock Ireland Mike McCarthy Lock Ireland Devin Toner Lock Ireland Shane Jennings Flanker Ireland Kevin McLaughlin Flanker Ireland Jordi Murphy Flanker Ireland Seán O'Brien Flanker Ireland Rhys Ruddock Flanker Ireland Dominic Ryan Flanker Ireland Jack Conan Number 8 Ireland Jamie Heaslip (c) Number 8 Ireland

Player Position Union Isaac Boss Scrum-half Ireland Luke McGrath Scrum-half Ireland Eoin Reddan Scrum-half Ireland Jimmy Gopperth Fly-half New Zealand Ian Madigan Fly-half Ireland Gordon D'Arcy Centre Ireland Brendan Macken Centre Ireland Collie O'Shea Centre Ireland Noel Reid Centre Ireland Ben Te'o Centre New Zealand Sam Coghlan Murray Wing Ireland Darragh Fanning Wing Ireland Luke Fitzgerald Wing Ireland David Kearney Wing Ireland Fergus McFadden Wing Ireland Mick McGrath Wing Ireland Rob Kearney Fullback Ireland Zane Kirchner Fullback South Africa

• Senior 15s internationally capped players in bold.
• Players qualified to play for Ireland on dual nationality or residency grounds*.
• Irish Provinces are currently limited to 4 non-Irish eligible (NIE) players and 1 non-Irish qualified player (NIQ or "Project Player").

Academy squad

^[61] Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.

Player Position Union Brian Byrne Hooker Ireland year 3 Ed Byrne Prop Ireland year 3 Peter Dooley Prop Ireland year 2 Tadgh Beirne Lock Ireland year 3 Ross Molony Lock Ireland year 2 Gavin Thornbury Lock Ireland year 3 Dan Leavy Flanker Ireland year 3 Peadar Timmins Flanker Ireland year 1 Josh Van Der Flier Flanker Ireland year 3

Player Position Union Nick McCarthy Scrum-half Ireland year 1 Ross Byrne Outside-half Ireland year 1 Steve Crosbie Outside-half Ireland year 2 Cathal Marsh Outside-half Ireland year 3 Harrison Brewer Centre Ireland year 1 Jordan Coughlan Centre Ireland year 4 Thomas Daly Centre Ireland year 2 Thomas Farrell Centre Ireland year 2 Rory O'Loughlin Centre Ireland year 1 Garry Ringrose Centre Ireland year 1 Adam Byrne Wing Ireland year 2 Ian Fitzpatrick Wing Ireland year 1 Bill Dardis Fullback Ireland year 2 Cian Kelleher Fullback Ireland year 1

Notable players & staff

See also Category:Leinster Rugby players

British and Irish Lions from Leinster

The following Leinster players, in addition to representing Ireland, have also represented the British and Irish Lions.^[31]

Tom Crean: 1896 Robert Johnston: 1896 George J. Morgan: 1938 Karl Mullen: 1950 Robin Roe: 1955 Tony O'Reilly: 1955, 1959 Ronnie Dawson: 1959, 1968 Niall Brophy: 1959, 1962 Bill Mulcahy: 1959, 1962 Mike Hipwell: 1971

Sean Lynch: 1971 Fergus Slattery: 1971, 1974 Tom Grace: 1974 John Moloney: 1974 Willie Duggan: 1977 Philip Orr: 1977, 1980 Rodney O'Donnell: 1980 John Robbie: 1980 Tony Ward: 1980 Ollie Campbell: 1980, 1983

Hugo MacNeill: 1983 Paul Dean: 1989 Brendan Mullin: 1989 Vince Cunningham: 1993 Eric Miller: 1997 Malcolm O'Kelly: 2001, 2005 Brian O'Driscoll: 2001, 2005, 2009, 2013 Shane Byrne: 2005 Gordon D'Arcy: 2005, 2009 Denis Hickie: 2005

Shane Horgan: 2005 Rob Kearney: 2009, 2013 Luke Fitzgerald: 2009 Jamie Heaslip: 2009, 2013 Cian Healy: 2013 Sean O'Brien: 2013 Jonathan Sexton: 2013

British and Irish Lions from other nations

The following Leinster players, in addition to representing their national team, have also represented the British and Irish Lions.

• Nathan Hines: 2009

Notable overseas players

The following is a list of notable non-Irish international representative Leinster players:

Felipe Contepomi Mariano Galarza

Shaun Berne Kane Douglas Rocky Elsom Owen Finegan* Lote Tuqiri Chris Whitaker*

Matt Berquist Jimmy Gopperth David Holwell Ben Te'o Brad Thorn*

Zane Kirchner Ollie Le Roux CJ van der Linde* Heinke van der Merwe

Vasily Artemiev Adam Byrnes Will Green Nathan Hines Isa Nacewa Stan Wright

* indicates World Cup winners

Head coaches (professional era)

As of 3 June 2014^{[note 6]}

Coach	Season(s)	P	W	D	L	Win %	Loss %	Championship(s)/Notes
O'Connor, MattMatt O'Connor	2013/14 – Present	31	24	1	6	77.4%	19.4%	Pro12 (2014)
Schmidt, JoeJoe Schmidt	2010/11 – 2012/13	99	77	3	19	77.8%	19.2%	European Cup (2011) European Cup (2012) European Challenge Cup (2013) Pro12 (2013)
Cheika, MichaelMichael Cheika	2005/06 – 2009/10	134	88	4	42	65.7%	31.3%	Pro12 (2008) European Cup (2009)
Murphy, GerryGerry Murphy	2004/05	4	2	0	2	50%	50%	Interim Coach
Kidney, DeclanDeclan Kidney	2004/05	25	17	1	7	68%	28%
Ella, GaryGary Ella	2003/04	30	14	2	14	46.7%	46.7%
Willams, MattMatt Willams	2000/01 – 2002/03	46	31	3	12	67.4%	26.1%	Pro12 (2002) Irish Interprovincial Championship (2002)
Ruddock, MikeMike Ruddock	1997/98 – 1999/00	34	16	0	18	47.1%	52.9%	Irish Interprovincial Championship (1998)

Club captains (professional era)

• Jamie Heaslip (2014/15 - Present)
• Leo Cullen (2008/09 – 2013/14) – 6 titles (3 x European Cup, 1 x European Challenge Cup, 2 x Pro12)
• Brian O'Driscoll (2005/06 – 2007/08) – 1 title (Pro12)
• Reggie Corrigan (2001/02 – 2004/05) – 2 titles (Pro12, Irish Interprovincial Championship)
• Liam Toland (1999/00 – 2000/01)
• Gabriel Fulcher (1998/99)
• Kurt McQuilkin (1997/98) – 1 title (Irish Interprovincial Championship)

Personnel honours and records

ERC Elite Awards

• Team Award (50 Heineken Cup matches): Leinster Rugby (115)

Player awards

• 50 Caps: Shane Horgan (87), Gordon D'Arcy (83), Leo Cullen (81 total, 69 for Leinster), Brian O'Driscoll (78), Malcolm O'Kelly (74), Girvan Dempsey (68), Shane Byrne (61 total, 55 for Leinster), Reggie Corrigan (61), Shane Jennings (61 total, 46 for Leinster), Trevor Brennan (57 total, 22 for Leinster), Victor Costello (57), Denis Hickie (54), Jamie Heaslip (53), Eoin Reddan (53 total, 26 for Leinster), Eric Miller (52 total, 34 for Leinster); Nathan Hines (69 total, 17 for Leinster)
• 25 Tries: Brian O'Driscoll (31), Shane Horgan (27), Gordon D'Arcy (25)

(Correct as of 19 May 2012)

ERC European Player of the Year

• 2011– Sean O'Brien
• 2012– Rob Kearney

ERC European Dream Team

The following Leinster players were selected in the ERC European Dream Team, an all-time dream team of Heineken Cup players.

• Rocky Elsom (Flanker), 2008–09
• Brian O'Driscoll (Centre), 1999–2014

Elsom had the fewest Heineken Cup appearances in the team and was the only member born outside of Europe. Both players were part of the 2008–09 Heineken Cup winning team.

PRO12 Team of the Year

• 2006–07: Felipe Contepomi, Gordon D'Arcy, Denis Hickie, Jamie Heaslip
• 2007–08: Felipe Contepomi, Leo Cullen, Jamie Heaslip, Bernard Jackman, Ollie Le Roux, Malcolm O'Kelly, Stan Wright
• 2008–09: Rocky Elsom, Jamie Heaslip, Brian O'Driscoll
• 2009–10: Leo Cullen, Jamie Heaslip, Brian O'Driscoll
• 2010–11: Jamie Heaslip, Isa Nacewa, Sean O'Brien, Mike Ross, Richardt Strauss
• 2011–12: Isa Nacewa, Richardt Strauss
• 2012–13: Ian Madigan
• 2013–14: Sean Cronin, Jordi Murphy, Rhys Ruddock^[62]

Individual records

Heineken Cup

• Most Appearances: (87) Shane Horgan
• Most Points: (402) Jonathan Sexton
• Most Tries: (32) Brian O'Driscoll
• Most Cons & Pens: (137) Jonathan Sexton

(correct as of 27 May 2013)

Celtic League

• Most Appearances:(118) Shane Jennings
• Most Points: (877) Felipe Contepomi
• Most Tries:(39) Shane Horgan
• Most Cons & Pens: (302) Felipe Contepomi

Bold indicates highest overall League record. (correct as of 27 May 2013).

See also

• Rugby union in Ireland
• History of rugby union matches between Leinster and Munster

Notes

References

External links

• Official site
• Leinster Supporters Site and Forum
• Leinster Rugby feature on The Irish Times
• Unofficial Leinster Calendar & Results

Celtic League and Pro12 Teams Benetton Treviso Cardiff Blues Connacht Edinburgh Glasgow Warriors Leinster Munster Newport Gwent Dragons Ospreys Scarlets Ulster Zebre Former Bridgend Caerphilly Cardiff Ebbw Vale Llanelli Neath Newport Pontypridd Swansea Defunct Aironi Border Reivers Celtic Warriors Grounds Stadio Comunale di Monigo Cardiff Arms Park Galway Sportsgrounds Murrayfield Scotstoun Stadium RDS Arena / Aviva Stadium Thomond Park / Musgrave Park Rodney Parade Liberty Stadium Parc y Scarlets Ravenhill Stadium Stadio XXV Aprile Seasons Celtic League 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 Pro12 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 Grand Finals 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Winners 2002: Leinster 2003: Munster 2004: Scarlets 2005: Ospreys 2006: Ulster 2007: Ospreys 2008: Leinster 2009: Munster 2010: Ospreys 2011: Munster 2012: Ospreys 2013: Leinster 2014: Leinster

European Rugby Champions Cup European Professional Club Rugby 2014–15 Teams Bath Benetton Treviso Castres Olympique Clermont Glasgow Warriors Harlequins Leicester Tigers Leinster Montpellier Munster Northampton Saints Ospreys Racing Métro Sale Sharks Saracens Scarlets Toulon Toulouse Ulster Wasps Seasons 2014–15 Pool stages 2014–15 Finals 2015 Qualification play-off 2014–15 2015–16

British and Irish Cup 2014–15 Teams English Bedford Blues Bristol Rugby Cornish Pirates Doncaster Knights Jersey London Scottish Moseley Nottingham Rugby Plymouth Albion Rotherham Titans Worcester Warriors Yorkshire Carnegie Irish Connacht Eagles Leinster A Munster A Ulster Ravens Welsh Aberavon Carmarthen Quins Cross Keys Pontypridd Former clubs English Birmingham & Solihull 2009–10, 2010–11 Coventry 2009–10 Ealing Trailfinders 2013–14 Esher 2010–11, 2011–12 Exeter Chiefs 2009–10 London Welsh 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2013–14 Newcastle Falcons 2012–13 Scottish Ayr 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2013–14 Currie 2010–11, 2011–12 Dundee HSFP 2012–13 Edinburgh Academicals 2013–14 Gael Force 2009–10 Gala 2012–13, 2013–14 Heriot's FP 2009–10 Melrose 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13 Stirling County 2012–13, 2013–14 Welsh Bedwas 2012–13 Bridgend Ravens 2012–13 Cardiff 2009–10, 2012–13 Llandovery 2010–11, 2012–13 Llanelli 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14 Neath 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13 Newport 2009–10, 2010–11, 2012–13 Swansea 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13 Seasons 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15

Rugby union in Ireland Governing body Irish Rugby Football Union Provinces Connacht Leinster Munster Ulster National teams Men's Ireland Wolfhounds Emerging Universities Exiles 7's U-20 Schoolboys British and Irish Lions Women's Women's 7's Competitions International World Cup Six Nations Professional Club European Rugby Champions Cup European Rugby Challenge Cup Pro12 British and Irish Cup National Club All-Ireland League All-Ireland Cup Connacht Senior Cup Leinster Senior Cup Munster Senior Cup Ulster Senior Cup Connacht Senior League Leinster Senior League Munster Senior League Ulster Senior League Related articles International players London Irish Millennium Trophy Centenary Quaich Lansdowne Cup Comparison of Gaelic football and rugby union

Leinster Rugby Staff Players Coaches Stadia RDS Arena Aviva Stadium Donnybrook Stadium Competitions Pro12 Rugby Champions Cup British and Irish Cup Former competitions Heineken Cup European Challenge Cup

Leinster Rugby squad Forwards Cronin Dundon Moran Strauss Tracy Bent Furlong Healy S. McCarthy J. McGrath Moore Ross Denton Douglas Marshall M. McCarthy Toner Jennings McLaughlin Murphy O'Brien Ruddock Ryan Conan Heaslip (c) Backs Boss L. McGrath Reddan Gopperth Madigan D'Arcy Macken O'Shea Reid Te'o Coghlan Murray Fanning Fitzgerald D. Kearney McFadden M. McGrath R. Kearney Kirchner Coach Matt O'Connor