2006 Heineken Cup Final

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]

2006 Heineken Cup Final
Event2005–06 Heineken Cup
Munster Biarritz
23 19
Date20 May 2006
VenueMillennium Stadium, Cardiff
RefereeChris White (England)
Attendance74,534

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 19–23 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)
FB15 Nicolas Brusque
RW14 Jean-Baptiste Gobelet
OC13 Philippe Bidabé
IC12 Damien Traille
LW11 Sireli Bobo
FH10 Julien Peyrelongue
SH9 Dimitri Yachvili
N88 Thomas Lièvremont (c)
OF7 Imanol Harinordoquy
BF6 Serge Betsen
RL5 David Couzinet
LL4 Jérôme Thion
TP3 Census Johnston
HK2 Benoît August
LP1 Petru Bălan
Replacements:
HK16 Benjamin Noirot
PR17 Benoît Lecouls
N818 Olivier Olibeau
FL19 Thierry Dusautoir
SH20 Manuel Carizza
FH21 Julien Dupuy
CE22 Federico Martín Aramburú
Coach:
Patrice Lagisquet
FB15 Shaun Payne
RW14 Anthony Horgan
OC13 John Kelly
IC12 Trevor Halstead
LW11 Ian Dowling
FH10 Ronan O'Gara
SH9 Peter Stringer
N88 Anthony Foley (c)
OF7 David Wallace
BF6 Denis Leamy
RL5 Paul O'Connell
LL4 Donncha O'Callaghan
TP3 John Hayes
HK2 Jerry Flannery
LP1 Marcus Horan
Replacements:
HK16 Denis Fogarty
PR17 Federico Pucciariello
LK18 Mick O'Driscoll
FL19 Alan Quinlan
SH20 Tomas O'Leary
FH21 Jeremy Manning
CE22 Rob Henderson
Coach:
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. Archived from the original on 2014-03-03. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.