Magners League Review

The Ospreys have been crowned 2006-07 Magners League Champions after a 26-16 win over the Border Reivers on Saturday evening. However they were pushed all the way by the Scottish side, who were playing their last ever game. Sonny Parker scored two tries as the Ospreys piped Cardiff Blues to the title by a solitary point creating a Welsh 1-2 in the Magners League final table.

The Blues had kept themselves in the running for the trophy thanks to a 27-11 bonus point win over Leinster on Friday night – which had ended Leinster’s own title aspirations, but they did end the season as the top Irish finisher for the first time.

Elsewhere on Friday night Llanelli Scarlets and Ulster both ended their campaigns with wins; the Scarlets beating Connacht 19-10 and Ulster overcoming Edinburgh 16-10, whilst on Saturday Munster continued their fine end to the season, securing sixth place in the table thanks to a 38-20 victory over Glasgow Warriors, the highest placed Scottish team.

PREVIOUS LEAGUE CHAMPIONS

2001-02 Leinster beat Munster 24-20 in the final at Lansdowne Road on 15 December 2001
2002-03 Munster beat Neath 37-17 in the final at Millennium Stadium on 1 February 2003
2003-04 Llanelli Scarlets topped the table with 76 points from 22 matches
2004-05 Ospreys headed the table with 76 points from 20 matches
2005-06 Ulster topped the table with 75 points from 20 matches (including 8 points from bye weeks)
2006-07 Ospreys headed the table with 64 points from 20 matches

Top Points Scorers

Nobody could quite match Felipe Contempomi’s 2005/06 tally of 287 points. Glasgow’s Dan Parks topped the scoring list with Contepomi in second place.

Player	Team	Apps	Tries	Cons	Pens	DG	Total
Dan Parks	Glasgow Warriors	16+3	4	27	38	3	197
Felipe Contepomi	Leinster	16+2	4	34	33	0	187
Ben Blair	Cardiff Blues	16	5	24	29	0	160
David Humphreys	Ulster	15+1	1	25	31	0	148
Ceri Sweeney	Newport Gwent Dragons	14	2	14	31	2	137
James Hook	Ospreys	12+3	2	18	26	1	127
Stephen Jones	Llanelli Scarlets	10	2	23	20	0	116
Chris Paterson	Edinburgh	11	2	14	25	0	113
Mark McHugh	Connacht	17+2	1	10	25	2	106
Ceiron Thomas	Llanelli Scarlets	13+5	4	12	17	0	95
Ronan O’Gara	Munster	9+2	0	15	20	0	90
Paul Warwick	Connacht	16+2	4	11	14	2	90
Calum MacRae	Border Reivers	14	0	5	23	0	79
Jeremy Manning	Munster	10+4	0	7	18	2	74
Shaun Connor	Ospreys	8+4	1	8	10	3	60
Duncan Hodge	Edinburgh	8+9	1	8	11	2	60
Colin Gregor	Glasgow Warriors	6+9	1	4	11	1	49
Paul Steinmetz	Ulster	16+1	5	3	6	0	49
Nick Robinson	Cardiff Blues	16+2	2	7	6	2	48
Aled Thomas	Newport Gwent Dragons	8+3	1	10	5	1	43
Barry Davies	Llanelli Scarlets	9+5	7	1	0	0	37
Paddy Wallace	Ulster	16+2	1	5	6	1	36

Top Try Scorers

The record haul stands at 12 tries in a season – Jamie Robinson of Cardiff in 2003/04 and Kevin Morgan of the Dragons in 2004/05.

Despite Leinster’s star studded backline it is back row Jamie Heaslip who leads the way, tied on seven tries with Ulster’s Andrew Trimble and Barry Davies and Darren Danile of the Scarlets.

Red Cards

Only one red card was handed out this season – to Martyn Williams.

Yellow Cards

Leinster, unffortunately, top the table in this one with a total seventeen (17) yellows. Leinster top scorer was also their top offender as Felipe Contempomi picked up three yellows in the league.

Munster on fifteen (15) yellows were the second highest in the league, and Connacht on fourteen (14) just behind them. Ulster were the best of the provinces and the best in the league with only six yellow cards to their name.

Leinster: Felipe Contepomi(3), Brian Blaney(2), Ronan McCormack(3), Jamie Heaslip(2), Stan Wright(2), Keith Gleeson, Will Green, Denis Hickie, Malcolm O’Kelly, Fosi Pa’alamo.

Munster: Donnacha Ryan(2), Marcus Horan(2), Tony Buckley, Brian Carney, Andy Kyriacou, Denis Leamy, Donncha O’Callaghan, Mick O’Driscoll, Ronan O’Gara, John O’Sullivan, Federico Pucciariello, Tim Ryan, Frankie Sheahan.

Connacht: Matt Lacey(3), David Gannon(2), Mark McHugh(2), John Muldoon(2), Colm Rigney, Brett Sturgess, Michael Swift, Danny Riordan, Ted Robinson.

Ulster: Justin Harrison(2), Ryan Caldwell, Kieran Campbell, Matt McCullough, Andrew Trimble.

Game Records

Most Points in a game: 25 – Felipe Contepomi (V Dragons, Nov4) and Ben Blair (Blues V Ospreys, Dec 23)

Most Penalty Goals in a game: 6 – Ronan O’Gara (V Leinster, Dec 27) and Colin Gregor (Warriors V Reivers Oct 6)

Fastest Try in a game: 21 seconds – Trevor Hogan (Leinster V Connacht Sept 29)

Biggest Attendance

48,000: Leinster V Ulster , Lansdowne Road, December 31st – The Last Stand.