Rugby videos of tackles, tries, funny incidents and more: Leinster win the Magners League

Thursday, May 08, 2008

Leinster win the Magners League

Leinster were crowned Magners League champions in front of their home fans on Saturday night as they scored a six-try 41-8 victory over the Newport Gwent Dragons at the RDS.

With their final two matches against the struggling Dragons, Michael Cheika's Leinster side only needed one bite of the cherry to claim the win that secured their second league title.

Widely regarded as Celtic rugby's most consistent team season, the Irish province cut loose in their final home game with tries from Ollie Le Roux (two tapped penalties), Shane Horgan, Shane Jennings, Chris Whitaker and Cameron Jowitt.

Le Roux, who is returning to South Africa at the end of the season, and Ireland flanker Keith Gleeson were both afforded standing ovations when they were called ashore.

There was no denying this was Leinster's night as they celebrated their first league success since 2001 and their first silverware under coach Michael Cheika.

Note: Apologies to the Leinster fans for the delay on this one. We were waiting for the best possible coverage all week, and this is all we managed to find. We hope it does your team justice after their well deserved title win.

cool, i like leinster. great backline.

Good to hear Keith Gleeson mentioned as an Australian. He went to my school haha.

Great stuff, good work leinster.

By Unknown, at May 09, 2008 2:07 am
Anyone know where Ollie is off to now?

By Asterix, at May 09, 2008 2:35 am
Great to see this up on RD. Leinster had a savage season this year and definetly deserved some silverware for their efforts. Keith Glesson will be missed, he's been huge for the club. I think Ollie's retiring this year tho he's def gone bak to South Africa to have some involvement in rugby. Totally hammered.

By Anonymous, at May 09, 2008 4:59 am
lovely backhanded pass from BOD

By Anonymous, at May 09, 2008 5:33 am
contepomi is the best player of that team

By Unknown, at May 09, 2008 5:45 am
But why don't Leinster turn it on come Heinekin Cup time? Every year they look good but they seem to come up short.

By Anonymous, at May 09, 2008 9:25 am
I think they have a bit of the "All Blacks Choking sysdrome"!

Great team, but never does well in cups!

By Anonymous, at May 09, 2008 10:21 am
Leinster year in year out are the most entertaining team in ireland, tho Munster in fairness to them are european heavyweights, the liverpool of europe if you may. Leinster seem to lack the belief that only a few good runs i europe can bring, hopefully this will change though cause its hard having to cheer the red of munster on every time the knock-out stages of europe come along!

By Unknown, at May 09, 2008 10:45 am
Fair play to Leinster. Deserved the league to be honest, let's hope we can win the Heineken Cup and make it an Irish double. Big turn around from what was expected after the world cup.

By Anonymous, at May 09, 2008 10:49 am
Ollie is going back to SA and has a job as one of the cheetas coaching staff. He's also taking a few of the leinster acadamy front rowers with for development purposes.

By Anonymous, at May 09, 2008 1:07 pm
Nice work Leinster, ripped the Dragons apart.

Dragons got a win back too, hopefully a bit more from them next season.

By Anonymous, at May 10, 2008 2:44 pm
Still isnt a Henieken Cup! The reason why is they choke, plain and simple

By Anonymous, at May 11, 2008 5:33 pm
let me guess patron..... ur a turnip muncher?

allez toulouse!!!

By Anonymous, at May 11, 2008 9:24 pm
Give them time patron you bandwagon jumper. At least Leinster fans go to all their games home and away

By Anonymous, at May 12, 2008 2:22 pm
Munster sell out venues even in the early stages of the Henieken Cup both at home and away!!

Their is no way you can compete with us, would have loved to see Leinster get further just so we could knock ye out again!

munster people wear or teams colour not pink polo shirts from Brown Thomas!

Ye have an aging team with a bucket load of has-beens and Kidney will do the right thing and put them out of their misery once and for all!

By Anonymous, at May 12, 2008 3:25 pm
Irish By Birth, Munster By The Grace Of GOD ... eh Parton.

But yet your proof that some Mothers do have them.

By Anonymous, at May 12, 2008 4:09 pm
The Magners League, or the Heineken Cup . . . .hmmm . . . .?

I sure as hell know what I'd pick!!

Fair play to Leinster though, but we're off to win the Heineken Cup in two weeks, just to remind you who's boss :-)

By Anonymous, at May 12, 2008 5:45 pm
ollie isnt going to coach cheetahs just yet, he's changed his mind. he's going to play the next year or two sa a mercenary prop, starting with the stromers.as for the whole munster thing we've beaten you at your own game twice this season both times without darcy and once without bod.it wasn't backs stuff, we beat you up in the forwards.so just shut up and accept your place.yes ur in heino cup final but leinster had an awful group(as did munster)and as you all say choke.but that's irrelevant - on their day leinster are a much better team.neiliog93(i cant log in right now)

By Anonymous, at May 12, 2008 11:16 pm
I think we've competed quite well with ye this year :P

Answer me this why are so many Munster fans so ignorant of teams outside the province ? Its embarrassing not just for the general rugby public but true Munster fans too. Who'd call Heaslip, Sexton, Kearney, Fitzgerald, Hogan, Jennings, Healy, or Horgan has-beens honestly ?

Actually go out there and meet some leinster fans instead of reading Ross O'Carroll-Kelly books! Or would ye all be terrified to actually go to a ground that isn't Thomond Park ?

Leinster play better rugby and embarrassed your pack this year in both games. We did choke against edinburgh but our performances are much more consistent than previous years. I would love to get ye in the HC next year !

Goodluck in the final and try and act have a bit of class and dignity for once !

By Anonymous, at May 13, 2008 2:29 am
im not calling heaslip, sexton, kearney or fitzgerald has-beens they have a great irish future but the likes of Horgan, Dempsey and D'arcy will struggle, they aint getting any older.

its almost embarasing from a leinster perspective that with the best back line for years that they dont perform, in the past the forwards were letting ye down time and time again and when they started to perform the backs struggled, if you could get the two working as one then ye would produce some great results like beating the french away,

what pisses me off tho was last year when ye buckled the magners league on the lst night i was talking to some so-called hardcore Leinster fan and all of sudden he belts out will i prefer to support munster, turncoat, i support munster through thick and thin and likewise with many leinster boys but your stereotyped Ross O' Carroll nob that turns on a hat rattles me no end.

Congrats for the magners league, most well deserved for a season where ye lost a lot of players to ireland or injury. But step it up and life will become even more interesting for irisih rugby. hopefully kidney will settle ireland so we can get back to winning ways and fix the rift that has formed in the camp between munster and leinster players

By Anonymous, at May 13, 2008 10:50 am
Ah yeah you get a few of those but i think a lot of that is Leinster fans putting Munster as their second team and showing a bit of national unity thats missing from the Munster fans. Lets not forget how the Munster board looked at the plight of Connacht compared with the Leinster board helping and supporting Connacht !

I don't think you could honestly say that, as a Munster fan, Leinster fans exactly glory hunters. If they were then Leinster wouldn't have the highest attendances and biggest away support even when they're playing rubbish.

I remember after the 2006 final talking to a lot of people who swore to have been Munster fans all their lives but didn't even know who they had played in the final and thought that the Claw and Jim Williams (if they knew who he was) were still playing.

I wouldn't exactly put Horgan or Darcy in the has been pile just yet. Ireland are gonna rely on them for a while to come but the incoming definitely balances out those on the way out.

Maybe i'm a bit old fashioned but even though its frustrating with our talented players to see them fail, the odd time when they DO click and play to their full potential its just beautiful and that means more to me than always winning which is a bit french I know but its my own perspective on it and its the way I'll always view rugby.

Don't make me laugh about Kidney bringing the team together ! After what he did to the Leinster players behind their backs was disgraceful and its amazing that you could imagine him uniting the Ireland team! He'll have a lot to do just apologising to Jennings, Cullen, BOD and Darcy !

And remember for every Rosser there's probably five red-neck culchies who only go to Thomond for a big game, only know a couple of players and spend the rest of the year shouting down anyone who actually wants to have a conversation about rugby with "European Champions of the World, Liegends etc etc."

By Anonymous, at May 13, 2008 2:39 pm
Ill give you a few of those too, i can honestly say that I have been there going back well beyond 2000, before the whole thing got off the ground. I have to fight tooth and nail to get a ticket every single time against those pricks who dont have a clue, their most up to date proposal is last weeks match program, before you could stroll up to Thomond park to a half empty henieken Cup match or Interpro back in the day.... but know ever goon likes rugby now, idiots bringing their whole family of kids along and the kids dont give a toss, tickets for the sake of tickets. Half those fools cannot remember the outhalf before RoG or even the scrum half before Stringer

"I remember after the 2006 final talking to a lot of people who swore to have been Munster fans all their lives but didn't even know who they had played in the final and thought that the Claw and Jim Williams (if they knew who he was) were still playing."

D'Arcy maybe have a role from the bench depending on how he recovers during the summer, the breaks in his arm didnt heal well i heard and that is unfortunate. with Kearney, Fitzgerald on the wings Horgan is loosing out to his own boys and with Dempsey, Murphy pushing the ages forward and the hair lines back it looks like Hurley will be another new boy to their saga.

All things in the past with kidney and Leinster, and the world cup have to be put aside and the professional approach taken to ensure we start winning in ireland, there is a lot of issues regarding what happened in France last summer. In the end of the day if they are not doing it for their country like so many of us would die for then it is still a professional contract.

As for glory-hunters, the guy i spoke too about switch provinces made me sick, it would make me sick to see a munster fan do like wise.....if you support rugby to may watch others but your team is at heart, same for football, i just cant imagine a dublin GAA fan, born and bread saying i support Kilkenny in Hurling, or any mix of counties

By Anonymous, at May 13, 2008 3:56 pm
Ah mate I don't doubt that for a second. I'm just saying that some Munster fans give the proper ones an awful reputation just like the D4 lads. And if you think the Dublin lads are bad for glory hunting, look out for people from Carlow, Offaly and Longford who support Munster !!! I'll give ye Killkenny because f Dowling. It just makes me sad because instead of supporting their province they take the anti-Dub approach.

Anyway goodluck in the final and remember that the vast majority of Leinster fans have been all their lives and have given a lot to support their team. Slán

By Anonymous, at May 13, 2008 4:15 pm
We'll agree that the blow in fans have tarnished and sterotyped die hards like ourselves, adn should be shot!!! We still have to get our hands on silver wear this year, your only as good as your last season and last season was not good for either province, congrats on winngin the heineken cup and well done on claiming that blues player Isa Nacewa. enjoy your success cause next season we have a bit of payback to give, haha

Its been interesting talking to you third centre
best of luck mate.

If i ever meet you at a match you can have a pint of "heino" on me

By Anonymous, at May 13, 2008 4:35 pm
More of a guinness man myself, I am a northsider after all ! Good luck !!

By Anonymous, at May 13, 2008 6:21 pm