2010–11 Leinster Rugby season

Leinster Rugby

2010–11 season
Manager	Josef Schmidt
Captain	Leo Cullen
Celtic League	Runners-up
Heineken Cup	Winners
British and Irish Cup	Quarter-finals
Top try scorer	League: Shane Horgan (7) (Celtic League); Sean O'Brien (4) (Heineken Cup)
Top points scorer	League: Isa Nacewa (142) (Celtic League); Jonathan Sexton (138) (Heineken Cup)
Highest home attendance	50,645 vs Munster (2 Oct 2010)Aviva Stadium
Lowest home attendance	9,790 vs Aironi (10 Feb 2011)
Home colours Away colours Third colours
← 2009–10 2011–12 →

The 2010–11 Leinster Rugby season was Leinster's tenth competing in the Celtic League, alongside which they competed in the 2010–11 Heineken Cup. The Leinster 'A' team competed in the British and Irish Cup for their second season.

Leinster reached the 2011 Celtic League Grand Final in Thomond Park, Limerick against Munster, after finishing 2nd in the league format & beating Ulster in the Semi-Finals, however Leinster were beaten by Munster who had won the league twice before. In the Heineken Cup, Leinster finished top of their pool which consisted of Clermont Auvergne, Racing Metro and Saracens. Leinster beat Leicester Tigers in the Quarter-Finals & Stade Toulousain in the Semi-Finals. Leinster beat Northampton Saints in the 2011 Heineken Cup Final in the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff to win the Heineken Cup for their second time. The Leinster 'A' team were beaten by the Bedford Blues in the British & Irish Cup Quarter-Finals.

Squad

Coaching and Management team

The current coaching team will change at the end of 2009–10 with Michael Cheika departing after 5 seasons. Cheika will be replaced by current Clermont backs coach Josef Schmidt.^[1] Schmidt is joining on a three-year contract and the rest of the coaching team will be announced before the end of the 2009–10 season.

Position	Name	Nationality
Head & Defence Coach	Josef Schmidt	New Zealand
Forwards Coach	Jono Gibbes	New Zealand
Scrum Coach	Greg Feek[2]	New Zealand
Backs Coach	TBA
Skills & Kicking Coach	Richie Murphy	Ireland
Chief Executive	Mick Dawson	Ireland
Team Manager	Guy Easterby	Ireland
Physiotherapist	James Allen	Ireland
Strength & Conditioning Coach	Chris Dennis	Ireland
Chief Scout	Guy Easterby	Ireland
Baggage Master	Patrick Moloi	Botswana

Playing Squad 2010/2011

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 John Fogarty Hooker Ireland Jason Harris-Wright Hooker Ireland Richardt Strauss Hooker South Africa Cian Healy Prop Ireland Jack McGrath Prop Ireland Ronan McCormack Prop Ireland Mike Ross Prop Ireland Heinke van der Merwe Prop South Africa Stan Wright Prop Cook Islands Leo Cullen (c) Lock Ireland Nathan Hines Lock Scotland Mariano Galarza Lock Argentina Trevor Hogan Lock Ireland Ed O'Donoghue Lock Ireland Eoin Sheriff Lock Ireland Devin Toner Lock Ireland Shane Jennings Flanker Ireland Kevin McLaughlin Flanker Ireland Sean O'Brien Flanker Ireland Rhys Ruddock Flanker Ireland Paul Ryan Flanker Ireland Dominic Ryan Flanker Ireland Jamie Heaslip Number 8 Ireland Stephen Keogh Number 8 Ireland

Player Position Union Isaac Boss Scrum-half Ireland Paul O'Donohoe Scrum-half Ireland Eoin Reddan Scrum-half Ireland Shaun Berne Outside-half Australia Jonathan Sexton Outside-half Ireland Ian Madigan Outside-half Ireland Gordon D'Arcy Centre Ireland Fergus McFadden Centre Ireland Brendan Macken Centre Ireland Brian O'Driscoll Centre Ireland Eoin O'Malley Centre Ireland Luke Fitzgerald Wing Ireland Shane Horgan Wing Ireland Simon Keogh Wing Ireland David Kearney Wing Ireland Isa Nacewa Wing Fiji Andrew Conway Fullback Ireland Rob Kearney Fullback Ireland Niall Morris Fullback Ireland

Bold indicates full international capped played.

In for 2010–11

• Isaac Boss (from Ulster)
• Mariano Galarza (from Universitario de La Plata)
• Ed O'Donoghue (from Ulster)
• Heinke van der Merwe (from Golden Lions)

Promoted from the Leinster Academy

• Niall Moris
• Andrew Conway
• Brendan Macken
• Jack McGrath
• Eoin Sherrif
• Paul Ryan
• Dominic Ryan
• Rhys Ruddock
• Ian Madigan

Out for 2010–11

• Malcolm O'Kelly (retiring)
• Girvan Dempsey (retiring)
• Mariano Galarza to Pampas XV
• Bernard Jackman (retiring)^[3]
• Chris Keane
• CJ van der Linde to Cheetahs^[4]

Celtic League

Table

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	Try bonus	Losing bonus	Pts
1	Munster	21	18	0	3	474	321	+153	41	22	5	2	79
2	Leinster	21	14	1	6	457	333	+124	46	25	4	3	65
3	Ulster	21	14	1	6	460	405	+55	41	34	3	2	63
4	Cardiff Blues	21	13	1	7	456	354	+102	35	29	3	3	60
5	Ospreys	21	11	1	9	541	408	+133	56	28	6	7	59
6	Scarlets	21	11	1	9	465	430	+35	45	41	4	7	57
7	Newport Gwent Dragons	21	10	1	10	431	442	−11	46	46	3	3	48
8	Edinburgh	21	9	0	12	415	429	−14	39	41	2	5	43
9	Connacht	21	7	1	13	388	437	−49	32	40	3	6	39
10	Benetton Treviso	21	8	0	13	343	496	−153	26	58	0	2	34
11	Glasgow Warriors	21	6	1	14	398	505	−107	33	44	1	6	33
12	Aironi	21	1	0	20	237	505	−268	20	52	0	7	11
Correct as of 30 April 2011

Fixtures

Semi-Final

	13 May 2011	Leinster	18 – 3	Ulster	RDS Arena
	19:05	Try: McFadden 25' m Fitzgerald 72' c Con: McFadden (1/1) Pen: Sexton (2/3) 5', 40'	Report	Pen: Pienaar (1/1) 62'	Referee: George Clancy

Final

	28 May 2011	Munster	19 – 9	Leinster	Thomond Park
	17:05	Try: Howlett 12' c Earls 66' m Penalty try 79' c Con: O'Gara (2/3)	Report	Pen: Sexton (3/4) 29', 46', 60'	Attendance: 25,822 Referee: Nigel Owens

Heineken Cup

Pool Table

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	LB	Pts
Leinster	6	5	0	1	21	9	+12	179	104	+75	3	1	24
Clermont	6	4	0	2	14	9	+5	114	94	+20	2	1	19
Racing Métro	6	2	0	4	9	17	−8	104	151	−47	0	1	9
Saracens	6	1	0	5	9	18	−9	107	155	−48	0	2	6

Fixtures

Pool Stage

	9 October 2010	Leinster	38 – 22	Racing Métro 92	RDS Arena, Dublin
	13:30	Try: O'Brien 30' c Kearney 33' m Strauss 48' m Heaslip 62' c McFadden 79' m Con: Nacewa (2/5) Pen: Nacewa (3/4) 4', 28', 38'	Report	Try: VuliVuli 55' c Con: Fillol (1/1) Pen: Fillol (3/3) 12', 41', 66' Steyn (2/3) 36', 51'	Attendance: 17,936 Referee: Dave Pearson (England)

	16 October 2010	Saracens	23 – 25	Leinster	Wembley Stadium, London
	17:45	Try: Goode 12' m Con: Hougaard Pen: Hougaard (2/3) 15', 33' Goode (4/4) 55', 62', 68', 74'	Report	Try: Sexton 52' c Con: Sexton (1/1) Pen: Sexton (6/6) 6', 19', 26', 35', 44', 63'	Attendance: 45,892 Referee: Christophe Berdos (France)

	12 December 2010	ASM Clermont Auvergne	20 - 13	Leinster	Stade Marcel Michelin, Clermont
	16:00	Try: Malzieu 6' c Floch 53' c Con: Parra (2/2) Pen: Parra (2/3) 24', 60'	Report	Try: Horgan 3' c Con: Sexton (1/1) Pen: Sexton (2/2) 11', 57'	Attendance: 16,106 Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

	18 December 2010	Leinster	24 - 8	ASM Clermont Auvergne	Aviva Stadium, Dublin
	17:45	Try: Healy 7' c Healy 43' c O'Brien 50' c Con: Sexton (3/3) Pen: Sexton (1/1)	Report	Try: Nalaga 68' m Pen: Parra (1/3)	Attendance: 44,873 Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

	15 January 2011	Leinster	43 - 20	Saracens	RDS Arena, Dublin
	13:30	Try: O'Brien 6' m D. Ryan (2) 11' c, 37' c McFadden 50' c Nacewa 60' c O'Malley 63' c Con: Sexton (5/6) Pen: Sexton (1/1) 28'	Report	Try: Short 24' c Brown 32' m Mordt 80' m Con: Farrell (1/3) Pen: Farrell (1/1) 56'	Attendance: 18,500 Referee: Romain Poite (France)

	21 January 2011	Racing Métro 92	11 – 36	Leinster	Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes
	21:00	Try: Vakatawa 15' m Pen: Hernández (2/3) 2', 36'	Report	Try: Nacewa 11' c O'Brien 19' c Sexton (2) 23' c, 62' m O'Driscoll 68' c Con: Sexton (4/5) Pen: Sexton (1/1) 54'	Attendance: 8,326 Referee: Greg Garner (England)

Quarter-final

	9 April 2011	Leinster	17 – 10	Leicester Tigers	Aviva Stadium, Dublin
	18:00	Try: Nacewa 48' m Pen: Sexton (4/4) 3', 15' 36', 73'	Report	Try: Hawkins 76' c Con: Flood (1/1) Pen: Flood (1/2) 5'	Attendance: 49,762 Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

Semi-final

	30 April	Leinster	32 - 23	Toulouse	Aviva Stadium, Dublin
	15:30 (UTC)	Try: Heaslip 30' c O'Driscoll 59' c Con: Sexton (2/2) 30', 60' Pen: Sexton (6/6) 10', 14', 40'+1', 47', 54', 80'	Report	Try: Fritz 4' c Picamoles 43' c Con: Skrela (2/2) 5', 45' Pen: Skrela (1/2) 37' Bézy (1/1) 75' Drop: Skrela (1/1) 11'	Attendance: 50,073 Referee: Dave Pearson (England)

Final

	21 May 2011	Northampton Saints	22–33	Leinster	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
	17:00	Try: Dowson 7' c Foden 30' c Hartley 39' m Con: Myler (2/3) Pen: Myler (1/1) 20'	Report	Try: Sexton (2) 43' c, 52' c Hines 64' c Con: Sexton (3/3) Pen: Sexton (4/5) 13', 35', 56', 60'	Attendance: 72,456 Referee: Romain Poite (France)

British & Irish Cup

Pool Stage

Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	+/-	BP	Pts
Worcester Warriors	5	4	0	1	175	87	88	3	19
Leinster A	5	4	0	1	138	117	21	3	19
Cornish Pirates	5	3	0	2	175	108	67	5	17
Newport	5	3	0	2	121	159	-38	4	16
Plymouth Albion	5	1	0	4	76	144	-68	0	5
Currie	5	0	0	5	104	174	-70	2	2
Correct as of 1 March 2011

Fixtures

Pool Stage

Quarter-Final

References

1. ↑ Leinster statement on new Head Coach Leinster Rugby, 28 December 2009
2. ↑ http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2010/0617/1224272699112.html
3. ↑ http://www.examiner.ie/breakingnews/sport/van-der-linde-jackman-and-keane-to-leave-leinster-459071.html
4. ↑ http://www.examiner.ie/breakingnews/sport/van-der-linde-signs-for-cheetahs-459210.html

External links

• Official website