A round-up of today's other rugby news in brief
Leinster look for change of fortune
LEINSTER WILL be pretty happy that Saturday’s game is not being played at Lansdowne Road because they have lost on all three occasions at that venue on reaching the penultimate stage of the Heineken Cup.
In the first season of the tournament (1995-1996) Leinster lost to Cardiff, a fate they suffered again when being beaten in the 2002-’03 campaign by Perpignan. Their most recent setback was inflicted by Saturday’s opponents Munster, who prevailed in the battle of the Irish provinces in 2006.
Leinster will be hoping that the switch across town to Croke Park will bring a change in fortune.
ERC is to reward the 1,000,000th fan to attend a Heineken Cup match this season with a VIP experience at Croke Park on Saturday, encouraging supporters to get to the stadium early to be in with a chance of winning.
So far the 76 matches played have been watched by 981,946 fans and lucky fan number 1,000,000 and a guest of their choice will be upgraded to full Ticketmaster hospitality in Croke Park’s suite level for the game set to break the world record attendance of 81,600 for a club rugby match. The pre-match build-up will start at 3.30pm when the turnstiles and bars within the stadium open.
O'Connell, Wallace and Elsom set the standards
THREE OF the players who take the pitch for Munster’s Heineken Cup semi-final against Leinster at Croke Park have each won a brace of man-of-the-match accolades in the competition so far. Munster and Lions captain Paul O’Connell achieved the feat in successive pool matches (rounds five and six) against the Sale Sharks at home and Montauban away.
David Wallace had already achieved the feat, also in the pool stages, when Munster defeated the Sharks (round two) at Edgeley Park and then beat Clermont Auvergne (round four) at Thomond Park.
Leinster’s Rocky Elsom managed to pick up the cut-glass honour in victories over Edinburgh (round one) at Murrayfield and in the Irish province’s most recent European game, the quarter-final victory over Harlequins at The Stoop.
Munster trio's consistent record
DID YOU know Ronan O’Gara, John Hayes and Donncha O’Callaghan have played in seven of Munster’s eight previous semi-finals in the Heineken Cup?
Or that O’Gara needs 20 points to reach a century for this season’s campaign?
Leinster’s Brian O’Driscoll and Shane Horgan are both one try away from joining the ERC’s elite 25-try club; one that only has two members to date in Daffyd James and Vincent Clerc.
Munster players have picked up three yellow cards to date in the present campaign while Leinster have amassed two more with five.
Rolland chosen for Tri-Nations duty
IRELAND’S ALAIN Rolland will referee two of this summer’s Tri-Nations matches, the games between South Africa and New Zealand in Bloemfontein, and the Springboks’ clash with Australia in Cape Town. Rolland is just one of several Irish referees who will officiate around the globe in the coming months.
Peter Fitzgibbon will referee at the Churchill Cup, Alan Lewis will be the man in the middle for Argentina’s home game against England before travelling to north America where he will oversee a couple of World Cup qualifiers between the USA and Canada.
John Lacey and JP Doyle will take charge of several matches in the IRB Nations Cup while George Clancy will preside over New Zealand’s matches against France and Italy.
Hayes homes in on a milestone
IN A season in which John Hayes became the most capped Ireland international of all time, the “Bull” will annex another appearance landmark when he takes to the field for Munster against Leinster at Croke Park.
Before the game he was tied with former team-mate Anthony Foley on 86 appearances in the Heineken Cup but he will move out on his own to top the list, recognition of both the quality his performances and his dedication and fitness.
Foley set to join Hall of Fame
ANTHONY FOLEY will be inducted into the Bord Gáis Energy IRUPA Hall of Fame, joining other greats such as Mick Galwey, David Humphreys and Keith Wood, when the players’ awards are announced at the Burlington Hotel next Wednesday.
Foley represented Ireland at Irish schools, under-21, A and senior levels, and holds the record for the most tries in the history of the Heineken Cup by a forward. Munster’s most-capped player of all time, Foley led his province to their holy grail of a first European triumph in 2006 and captained Ireland three times in his 50-plus appearances for his country.
This year, for the first time, fans are casting their vote for the Bord Gais Energy Rugby Supporters Player of the Year which will be announced on Friday, May 1st, on The Right Hook on Newstalk106-108 fm. Fans can vote for their favourite Irish rugby player by texting PLAYER followed by the name of the person they wish to nominate as Player of the Year to 53106. Texts cost 30c.
