Heineken Cup Semi Final 2006

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Originally uploaded by e_mulvey.

Munster Celebtaions

Reds do it again

Munster beat Leinster by a convincing 30 points to 6 today at Lansdowne Road. Munster got the quick start they hoped for with early pressure giving O'Gara an easy penalty. Then Leamy scored a try in the 9th minute to make it 10-0. Then Leinster got a penalty only to concede one back to Munster. Another penalty before half time and Munster went in 16-3 ahead at the break. The second half saw Leinster upping the pace. There was no score in teh second half util the 28th minute when Contepomi kicked a penalty to make it 16-6. He missed another penalty and then O'Gara got over for an easy try under the posts. In the final minute Halstead - who had a fantastic game - intercepted inside his own half and sprinted down the field for a try under the posts. O'Gara kicked the conversion and it was all over.

Paul O'Connell was again Man of the Match

Reds beat Blues - maybe its an omen!

Liverpool surprised the marginal favourites Chelsea (2-1) in the FA cup semi final yesterday. This must be a sign for Munster to do the same against Leinster in the Heineken Cup semi final this afternoon.
If we are looking for other Red V Blue signs then Biarritz booked their place against the winners of to-days encounter at Cardiff in May. They were relatively easy winners (18-9) over a disappointing Bath team.

Well its the play-offs - get over it.

With 6 draws and 2 defeats in the last eight matches - Leeds have to be content with the play-offs. A draw with Reading on Saturday and a draw away to Sheffield last night were good results. However it is now 2 cup matches to settle the promotion battle. The four teams to play out for one premiership place are already settled: Watford, Palace and Preston join Leeds. -However who plays who, is far from settled - any team is capable of finishing in 3rd through 6th place. Leeds have to play one of the possible opponents, Preston in the last match of the season. Preston were in the play-offs last season, while Palace were in the premiership last season - so there are no easy opponents. Full Championship Table.

The early bird ...

Myself and Senan went to the Leinster Vs Llanelli at Lansdowne Road this evening. We decided to go early. When we arrived in teh ground they announced that there was a limited number of North Terrace tickets for next Sunday Heineken Cup semi-final between Leinster and Munster. We couldn't believe our luck - joined the queue and are now proud holders of two tickets. Leinster had a slow enough start and let Llanelli go in at half time 19 to 7 ahead. However they came out a much more convincing team and the score finished up 30-22.

Katy goes to Washington

Katy writes: J’ai passé la semaine derniere a Washington avec 300 élevés de plus de vingt pays différents. J’ai reçu une bourse pour aller a Washington avec neuf autre élevé irlandais. Le voyage a été organise par EIL et une compagnie américain qui s’appelle > Presidential Classroom. A Washington nous avons visite d’emplacements par exemple le monument de Washington, le musée Smithsonian et le mémorial de Lincoln. Nous avons écrit un communiqué aussi, comme ils font dans l'ONU. J'étais le chef de mon groupe. Nous avons écrit un communiqué au sujet du nationalisme. Il a dû être accepté par tous les vingt pays. Nous avons travaillé très dur, mais Le communiqué a échoué. Un communiqué est un document, qui doit être admis par tous les pays. Il explique les vues et la croyance des pays impliqué. L'ONU fait beaucoup de communiqués au sujet comme des droits de l'homme, santé, et Terrorisme.

Senan is Confirmed

Senan writes: On Saturday the first of April I made my Confirmation. I was confirmed by Bishop Eamonn Walsh. I picked my uncle Michael as my sponsor. My confirmation name is Francis after St Francis of Assisi. The ceremony was quite long. After we were anointed with chrism we said the prayers of the faithful and I did a prayer for those who could not be at the confirmation because of illness. On Saturday my granny was sick and wasn’t well enough to come to the confirmation and so at the time I was thinking of her. After the confirmation we went to dinner with just the family and my sponsor. I had a great time and after we went home and watched the rugby matches. On Sunday we invited relations and family friends to our house. Lots of my cousins were there. I enjoyed the weekend thoroughly.

Its been at exciting week

Its been an exciting week in our house.

• Lisa is in the middle of her first 3 weeks of teaching practice.
• Senan had his confirmation on Saturday.
• Katy has just spend 10 days in Washington as part of an Irish delegation to the "Future World Leader Summit" and
• I started my new job last Monday.

Great Rugby, but more disappointment for Leeds

What a week-end of sport. I'm afraid that Leeds losing to Hull means that we look stuck in the play-offs rather than the hope of a second place and guaranteed promotion. Watford also lost - but Crystal Palace are on a great run and a draw by Sheffield means that they are now 7 points clear of Leeds with 5 games to go. But moving swiftly on .... .... Rugby was a different story. Athough I have lived in Leinster for most of my life, I am a Munster rugby supporter. It's very simple - I was born there and that's my excuse! It was the Leinster performance, away to Toulouse, which was the performance of the week-end - they didn't just win they swept them away. While Toulouse got close near the end (35-41) - there was never any real danger. The backs were (finally) at their best. There were world class tries from O'Driscoll and Hickey. But it was Contepomi who was the real star - his aggresion in running from inside the Leinster 22 to set up Hickey was awesome and he handled the ball twice in the sequence leading up to the O'Driscoll try.

I've Got You My Precious Uploaded by BobTheCorkDwarf.

For Munster - it was as I had feared - as clear favourites against Perpingnan, they struggled. Leinster with nothing to lose played out of their skins. Munster won without too much danger, (19-10) but it was nervy and not very good rugby to watch. However you know what we say - "A win is a win". Now, we have the hottest ticket in town in just under 3 weeks, when Leinster play Munster in Lansdowne Road. Who knows what will happen - the only certainty is that their will be an Irish team facing either Bath or Biaritz in the Heiniken Cup final in May.