The defending Heineken Cup Champions Leinster got out of jail with a bonus-point-saving-try against the 14 man Clermont Auvergne in their pool match at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. In what was a pretty dull and drab first half during which the two flyhalves exchanged penalties for a 9-6 scoreline in favour of the visitors, until […]
It was an all Irish final as Leinster thrashed their Irish opponenets Ulster 42-14 at Twickenham on Saturday. The winning margin was a record that begged the question: are Leinster the greatest Heineken Cup team of all time? They ran in five tries to one and even the Soutrh African contingent in red and white had no […]
Referee Wayne Barnes may have destroyed the Heineken Cup semi-final between Clermont and Leinster as a spectacle but the match hinged on a single try early in the second half from Leinster prop Cian Healy. With the flyhalves swapping kicks and the score 19-15 to Leinster, Clermont threw everything bar the kitchen sink at the […]
Ulster defeated Munster 22-16 in an all-Irish Heineken Cup quarterfinal on Sunday, while Saracens went down 22-3 to Clermont Auvergne; that was after Edinburgh had beaten Toulouse 19-14 and Leinster had thrashed the Cardiff Blues 34-3 on Saturday. So the semifinals have been decided and will see Ulster versus Edinburgh at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium on […]
It was a great day for Munster as they scored 51 points against last year’s Heineken Cup runners up, Northampton Saints, to secure a home quarterfinal in April. Simon Zebo scored a brilliant hat-trick of tries and Ronan O’Gara kicked 24 points as the two-times champions beat the Saints 51-36 Munster had clinched their pool last weekend so […]
Heineken Cup defending champions Leinster joined their Irish rivals Munster in the quarterfinals of Europe’s equivalent to Super Rugby, the Heineken Cup, after scoring a 23-16 victory over Glasgow. Later in the day Saracens pulled off a 20-16 win over French club Biarritz. Five penalties from the boot of Owen Farrell and an unconverted Ben Spencer try proved decisive for […]
A gift try for Ernst Joubert gave Saracens the momentum they needed to become the first team to beat the Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea in seven seasons of Heineken Cup Rugby. Despite two yellow cards, including one for hooker Schalk Brits, Saracens managed to hold on to their three-point advantage and run […]
Springbok flanker Francois Louw had been the hero for Bath in the Heineken Cup match against Leinster. Bath were leading by 13-12 with seven minutes to go when he had a brain fart and dived over a ruck, handing Leinster a kickable penalty which they took with relish and the lead 15-12. Five minutes later […]
It’s week two in the Heineken cup and in the the match between Munster and Castres, for the second week in a row Ronan O’Gara struck a dramatic drop goal as time expired to earn Heineken Cup victory for Munster as the Irish team won by 27 -24 Biarritz 15 – 10 Saracens A brilliant […]
Saracens made the perfect start to their Heineken Cup campaign with a comfortable 42-17 victory over Treviso at Vicarage Road. Springbok skipper John Smit had an impressive debut for the London club scoring a try. Scotland second-rower Richie Gray scored a dramatic last-gasp try to earn Glasgow an unlikely 26-21 victory over Bath in their […]