Leinster (rugby club)

Amateur Period

The 1879 conference, when the Leicester branch of the Irish Rugby Union was established, was attended by representatives of the Wanderers, Landsdown, Arlington School, Dublin University, Dundalk, Phoenix and Stevens Hospital clubs. F. Kennedy of the Wanderers was elected the first secretary of the organ, S. B. Crocker (Landsdown) received the position of treasurer. The new structure was responsible for conducting rugby competitions on the territory of Leinster. Each year, five delegates (the “Lenster Five”) branches were elected to the committee of the Irish Union. ^[6]

Before the onset of the professional era, the provincial teams of Ireland competed with each other and with foreign clubs as part of foreign tours. The first matches between “Lenster”, “Ulster” and “Manster” were held in 1875. According to the rules of those years, there were 20 rugby players from each team on the field. “Leinster” lost to “Ulster” on one realized attempt and outplayed “Manster” dry, scoring a goal. Since then, such mini-tournaments have been held annually. In 1885, Connacht joined the participants. ^[7] Inter-provincial matches were canceled during the years of world wars (1914-1918, 1939-1945), but informal meetings were still held. ^[7]

The first major foreign rival of Lenster is the Kiwis , a team assembled from soldiers of the New Zealand army. The game between them took place in 1946. Despite the fact that the trip was not formally sanctioned by the New Zealand Rugby Union, the quality of the game in the match was remembered by the fans for a long time. ^[7] The first official game with a touring club took place in 1957 - Australian rugby players came to Ireland. In the future, “Leinster” played with all the major rivals traveling around the rugby world - from Fiji to France . ^[7]

Before the establishment of professional rugby in Ireland, the club championship was of great importance. For some time, the provincial teams acted on the principle of national teams, and matches, respectively, were held much less frequently than now. The new status of rugby, approved in 1995, allowed the provincial teams to gain the benefits of a professional sports club and retain the support of the Irish Rugby Union. Inter-provincial matches with the participation of the Leicester schools have been held since 1888. Then the “schoolchildren” rugby players outplayed their colleagues from Ulster, and a year later rivals from Manster. The Connacht team joined in 1928. ^[7] The championship is still one of the prestigious competitions. ^[7]

The first official Leinster Senior Challenge Cup tournament was organized in 1881. Participants competed in the playoffs system, which determined the need for the competition in a league format. Later, the Junior Cup, the Junior League and other championships were created. ^[7] Since the early 1920s The Provincial Towns Cup and the Metropolitan Cup , which are now held with the participation of the big Lenster, began to be held.

Lenster Lions

In the mid-1990s Lenster received professional status. The new name, Leicester Lions, was adopted in the 2001/02 season as a result of an agreement between the club and Canterbury Clothing Company , the technical sponsor of the team. The debut season of “Lenster” in the new Celtic League was successful: the club became the first champion of the tournament, defeating “Munster” in the final. ^[8] The following year, Leicester became the third team in history to win all matches in the group stage of the Heineken Cup. In addition, the Irish went to the semifinals - a round further than in the previous draw. It is noteworthy that the match of the 1/2 finals with Perpignan (defeat) was the first semi-final game of Lenster since 1996. However, this and the next season in the Celtic League were disappointing. Before starting in the 2004/05 championship, management decided to abandon the Lyons nickname. However, it is still used in some cases, for example, by the junior team. ^[9]

Without titles

“Leinster” began to gradually rise in the table from the 2004/05 season, when the Irish finished third, only three points behind the champion. In the same season, Leicester won all matches in the group stage of the Heineken Cup. This fact, of course, made the team one of the favorites in the fight for the title. However, the club dropped out in the quarterfinals, losing to Leicester Tigers . ^[10] The next two seasons could well have brought Leicester new trophies. And yet, both times the Irish lost the title in the last round of the championship. On the other hand, Lenster has progressed in the European arena. In the 2005/06 draw, the club reached the semifinals, where they lost to Manster at Lansdowne Road . A year later, “Leinster” again stopped at the quarter-final stage - the rival team in 1/4 were the “ London Wosp ”.

Success

The growing audience of matches of “Lenster” became the reason for the move to the updated “RDS Arena”. In the 2007/08 season, despite the failure in Europe, the club became the champion of the Celtic League, having won the title in front of their fans. With six attempts, the Leicester beat Newport with a score of 41-8. ^[11] The next European Cup campaign turned out to be more successful, and the club took first place in the group, and very unexpectedly (the Irishmen lost to Castra away). ^[12] Then followed the victory at the Harlequins , provoking a scandal known as the Bloodgate . In the semi-finals, “Leinster”, contrary to the forecasts of the bookmakers, turned out to be stronger than the “Manster” (25-6). That game, which took place at Croke Park Stadium, was a record in club rugby in terms of the number of fans - 82 208 spectators attended the match. ^[13] The tournament finale was held at the Marrifield Arena in Edinburgh . The Irish club beat the English from the Leicester Tigers and won the cup for the first time in its history. ^[14]

The following year, “Leinster” by the forces of the future champion “Toulouse” dropped out of the rally at the semifinal stage. The team won the regular season of the Celtic League, but lost the Osprey at home in the main match of the season (12-17). ^[15] Heineken Cup 2010/11 was the second in the collection of “Leinster” - rugby players beat “Northampton Saints”. After the first half of the match, the English led the club with a score of 22-6. Nevertheless, 27 unanswered points (including three attempts) scored by “Lenster” in the second half allowed him to become a champion. In addition, the club made the largest comeback in the history of the cup finals. ^[16] An outstanding game was played by Jonathan Sexton, who scored 28 of the 33 points of the “Lenster”. ^[17] This result put the team in first place in the European club ranking. ^[18] Prior to this, Leicester never held the top spot. The take-off in the rating is largely due to the strength of the opponents beat by the team on the way to the finals: these are the three best clubs of the English season (Leicester, Caracins, Northampton), and the leading French teams - the country’s champion Clermont-Auvergne, the current holder of the Heineken Toulouse Cup, as well as the Racing Metro. ^[nineteen]

That season, Leicester had a chance to become the first Pro12 club to win both the championship and the Heineken Cup in one competitive year. Having taken the second place in the regular season, the team won silver following the results of the whole tournament: in the final match at Tomond Park , Munster won (9-19). ^[20]

In the 2011/12 season, the Irish became three-time Heineken Cup winners and the second team to win the tournament twice in a row. Performances in Europe began with group stage matches against Montpellier, Glasgow and Bata, in all of which Leicester remained undefeated. Rugby players recorded five wins and one draw (Montpellier, 16-16). ^[21] Of course, this result allowed the club to lead the group and reach the quarterfinals, where another opponent, Cardiff Blues (34-3), was defeated. ^{[22] The} victory in the semifinal match against Clermont-Auvergne was less convincing (19-15). ^[23] Finally, in the finals, Leinster defeated Ulster - the match was the first purely Irish confrontation in the cup final. The final score of the final - 42-14 - went down in history with a record for winner performance, the largest gap in the score and five attempts of Lenster - the best indicator among all cup winners. ^[24]

The second attempt to make a gold double did not bring the club success, and the first champion of the updated Pro12 league were the Welshmen from Ospreyz. “Leinster” received only one point less than the opponent, and the best team in Wales made an attempt and realized it in the last minute of the game. ^[25]

In the 2012/13 season, the club won the second most important European trophy, the European Challenge Cup . In the final match, the Irish beat the French team Stud France with a score of 31:13 ^[4] . The match was watched by 20,396 spectators ^[26] - this is the third result in the history of the cup finals. Then the club became the winner of Pro12. After taking second place in the regular season and skipping ahead to Ulster , the team then won the playoffs. The rival of the Lensters in the finals was precisely Ulster.

Celtic League and Pro12

Heineken Cup

• Pro12
  • Champion : 3 ( 2002 , 2008 , 2013 )
  • Vice Champion : 4 ( 2006 , 2010 , 2011 , 2012 )
• Heineken Cup
  • Owner : 3 ( 2009 , 2011 , 2012 )
• European Challenge Cup
  • Owner : 1 ( 2013 )
• Irish Inter-Provincial Championship
  • Champion : 20 ( 1949 , 1950, 1955 *, 1957 *, 1959 , 1961, 1962 , 1964 , 1965, 1972 , 1973 *, 1976 *, 1978 *, 1980 , 1981, 1982, 1983 *, 1984 , 1994 *, 1996 )

Bold - Grand Slam; * - the title is received together with another team.

Now the team is playing in blue, but at the dawn of its history, the Lenster rugby players played in green. The harp is strongly associated with the province of Leinster, so its image is traditionally presented on the equipment. The harp was a symbol of the team during the first inter-provincial game with Ulster. Legend has it that this instrument became a symbol of the province in the 17th century when Ewan Roy O'Neill hoisted a green flag with a harp on his St. Francis boat, mooring at Dunkirk . O'Neill later returned to Ireland, wanting to help her in the struggle for independence, and went to the Leinster city of Kilkenny .

The new emblem was approved in 2005 - the club did not have copyright in relation to the previous one. A new stylized symbol combines the image of the harp with the contours of a rugby ball. ^{[27] The} mark is present on all Lenster's branded products, including copies of the game uniform. Now the team is playing in blue rugby women with a white harp and some gold elements. The backup kit includes a white rugby shirt with a blue harp. In addition, three stars are located above the club’s emblem, symbolizing the three victories of the Lenster in the Heineken Cup .

Season 2018/19. ^{[29] [30]}

Academy

Season 2018/19. ^[31]

British and Irish Lions Irish

The cited Lenster players defended the colors of both the national team of Ireland and the British and Irish Lions. ^[32]

Representatives of the “British and Irish Lions” from other countries

•   Nathan Hines: 2009

Famous Overseas Players

List of non-Irish players of international level.

Former trainers

•   Michael Cheyka (2005/06 - 2009/10) - 2 titles (Pro12 and Heineken Cup)
•   Jerry Murphy (Acting 2004/05)
•   Declan Kidney (2004/05)
•   Gary Ella (2003/04)
•   Matt Williams (2000/01 - 2002/03) - 1 title (Pro12)
•   Mike Ruddock (1997/98 - 1999/00)

ERC Elite Awards

• Team (50 matches in the Heineken Cup):   Leinster (115)

Personal

• 50 matches:   Shane Horgan (87), Gordon D'Arcy (83), Leo Cullen (81 in total and 69 for Leicester), Brian O'Driscoll (78), Malcolm O'Kelly (74), Jirvan Dempsey (68), Shane Byrne (61 in total and 55 for the “Lenster”), Reggie Corrigan (61), Shane Jennings (61 in total and 46 for the “Lenster”), Trevor Brennan (57 in total and 22 for the “Lenster”), Victor Costello (57), Denis Hickey (54), Jamie Hislip (53), Owen Reddan (53 total and 26 for the “Lenster”), Eric Miller (52 total and 34 for the “Lenster”);   Nathan Hines (69 total and 17 for the “Leinster”)
• 25 attempts:   Brian O'Driscoll (31), Shane Horgan (27), Gordon D'Arcy (25)

(as of May 19, 2012)

Player of the Year in Europe (ERC)

2011 -   Sean O'Brien 2012 -   Rob Kearney

European Dream Team (ERC)

The cited “Leicester” rugby players were included in the European Dream Team ( ERC European Dream Team ), the national team of Heineken Cup players of all time.

•   Rocky Elsom (flanker), 2008-2009
•   Brian O'Driscoll (Center), 1999 - n. at.

Elsom appeared in cup matches less often than all other Lenster players and at that time was the club’s only rugby player not from Europe. Both athletes entered the club's winning squad at the Heineken Cup 2008/09.

Team of the Year Pro12

• 2006/07 :   Felipe Kontepomi ,   Gordon D'Arcy   Denis Hickey   Jamie Hislip
• 2007/08 :   Felipe Kontepomi ,   Leo Cullen,   Jamie Hislip   Bernard Jackman   Olli le Roux   Malcolm O'Kelly   Stan Wright
• 2008/09 :   Rocky Elsom,   Jamie Hislip   Brian O'Driscoll
• 2009/10 :   Leo Cullen,   Jamie Hislip   Brian O'Driscoll
• 2010/11 :   Jamie Hislip   Isa Naseva,   Sean O'Brien   Mike Ross   Richardt strauss
• 2011/12 :   Isa Naseva,   Richardt strauss

Individual Records

Heineken Cup

• Games: (87)   Shane Horgan
• Points: (338)   Felipe Kontepomi
• Attempts: (31)   Brian O'Driscoll
• Realizations and penalties: (269)   Felipe Kontepomi

(data as of March 28, 2012)

Celtic League / Pro12

• Games: (98)   Shane Horgan
• Points: (877)   Felipe Kontepomi
• Attempts: (38)   Shane Horgan
• Realizations and penalties: (302)   Felipe Kontepomi

Bold league records. (data as of May 24, 2011) .

• Pro12
• Heineken Cup
• Irish Rugby Union

• Official site
• Leicester at the Irish Times