2010 Celtic League Grand Final

2009-10 Celtic League Grand Final

Event	2009–10 Celtic League
Leinster Ospreys 12 17
Date	29 May 2010
Venue	RDS Arena, Dublin
Man of the Match	Lee Byrne
Referee	Chris White (RFU)
Attendance	19,850
Weather	Dry

The 2009–10 Celtic League Grand Final was the final match of the 2009–10 Celtic League season. The 2009–10 season was the fourth sponsored by Magners and was the first ever Celtic League Grand Final. The final was won by the Ospreys who defeated Leinster by 17–12 at the RDS Arena to win their third Celtic League title, the win ended Leinster's 20-month unbeaten home league record.

Route to the final

2009–10 Final Table

Key to colours

Top four teams advance to playoffs.

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	Try bonus	Losing bonus	Pts
1	Leinster	18	13	0	5	359	295	+64	27	29	1	2	55
2	Ospreys	18	11	1	6	384	298	+86	37	26	3	3	52
3	Glasgow Warriors	18	11	2	5	390	321	+69	31	24	2	1	51
4	Munster	18	9	0	9	319	282	+37	33	20	3	6	45
5	Cardiff Blues	18	10	0	8	349	315	+34	33	28	2	2	44
6	Edinburgh	18	8	0	10	385	391	−6	40	40	4	5	41
7	Newport Gwent Dragons	18	8	1	9	333	378	−45	32	37	3	2	39
8	Ulster	18	7	1	10	357	370	−13	39	35	4	2	36
9	Scarlets	18	5	0	13	361	382	−21	35	35	1	8	29
10	Connacht	18	5	1	12	254	459	−205	20	53	0	4	26

Semi-finals

14 May 2010 19:05

Ospreys	20 – 5	Glasgow Warriors
Try: Williams 9' c Hook 54' c Con: Biggar (2/2) Pen: Biggar (2) 51', 79'	Report	Try: Thomson 42' m

Liberty Stadium Attendance: 7,079 Referee: George Clancy

15 May 2010 20:00

Leinster	16 – 6	Munster
Try: Kearney 44' c Con: Sexton Pen: Sexton (3) 18', 50', 58'	Report	Pen: O'Gara 29' Drop: O'Gara 41'

RDS Arena Attendance: 19,750 Referee: Nigel Owens

Match

Summary

First-half Ospreys tries from Tommy Bowe after 20 minutes and Lee Byrne after 35 minutes which were both converted put the Ospreys 14–3 up at half time, with the Leinster score coming from a Johnny Sexton penalty after 23 minutes. A further penalty from Sexton brought the score to 14–6 before Dan Biggar kicked over a penalty for the Ospreys after 48 minutes. Two more penalties from Sexton in the 62nd and 71st minutes made the score 17–12, but that was enough for the Ospreys to hold and become the first side to win the title for the third time.

Details

29 May 2010 18:30

Leinster	12–17	Ospreys
Pen: Sexton (4) 23', 45', 62' ,71'	Report	Try: Bowe 20' c Byrne 35' c Con: Biggar (2/2) Pen: Biggar 48'

RDS Arena Attendance: 19,850 Referee: Chris White

15 Rob Kearney 14 Shane Horgan 13 Brian O'Driscoll 12 Gordon D'Arcy 11 Isa Nacewa 10 Johnny Sexton 9 Eoin Reddan 8 Jamie Heaslip 7 Shane Jennings (c) 6 Kevin McLaughlin 5 Malcolm O'Kelly 4 Nathan Hines 3 CJ van der Linde 2 John Fogarty 1 Stan Wright Replacements: 16 Richardt Strauss 17 Cian Healy 18 Trevor Hogan 19 Stephen Keogh 20 Paul O'Donohoe 21 Fergus McFadden 22 Girvan Dempsey Coach: Michael Ceika

15 Lee Byrne 14 Tommy Bowe 13 Andrew Bishop 12 James Hook 11 Shane Williams 10 Dan Biggar 9 Mike Phillips 8 Ryan Jones (c) 7 Marty Holah 6 Jerry Collins 5 Jonathan Thomas 4 Alun Wyn Jones 3 Adam Rhys Jones 2 Huw Bennett 1 Paul James Replacements: 16 Ed Shervington 17 Ryan Bevington 18 Ian Gough 19 Filo Tiatia 20 Jamie Nutbrown 21 Gareth Owen 22 Nikki Walker Coach: Scott Johnson

Reaction

Ospreys head coach Sean Holley reacted to the win saying "it's a special night, I wouldn't say it was our best performance, but certainly one of our most courageous and determined." "Leinster are pretty outstanding in defence, and it's the end of a long, hard season, I'm not that surprised (we cut through them), because we have some great talent." Departing Leinster coach Michael Cheika reacted to the loss by saying "Ospreys deserved the win but we're disappointed with ourselves. We didn't play well, we tried to fight our way back into the game, but we made too many mistakes. We probably just weren't accurate in the defensive section or where we needed to be in the team."

External links

• 2010 Celtic League Grand Final Coverage at ESPN