Munster Rugby - Heineken Cup, Challenge Cup and Celtic League

Heineken Cup, Challenge Cup and Celtic League

Munster finally reached the Heineken Cup quarter-finals in 1998/99, after three years of not being able to get out of the group stages.

Munster's first appearance in the competition's final was in the season 1999/2000, where they lost by one point to Northampton at Twickenham. Nevertheless, that season was most memorable with a fantastic win over Toulouse 25–31 in Bordeaux.

Their good form and bad luck continued in the following year (2000/01) with a semi-final defeat to Stade Français, again by one point, where a try by John O'Neill was disallowed by the referee, as he deemed the ball out over the dead ball line.

In 2001/02 Munster lost the last match of their pool at Castres, but qualified as best runners-up. Munster beat Stade Français 16–14 in Paris. The only try of the game coming from Anthony Horgan. It was then on to Béziers to meet Castres for the semi-final. Munster were triumphant and went to the final at Millennium Stadium to meet the reigning champions, Leicester. Munster lost a tight game remembered as 'the hand of Back' final as a Leicester flanker used his hand illegally in a scrum when Munster had a last-chance attack. Munster also reached the final of the Celtic League this season, but lost to Leinster, 24–20 at Lansdowne Road, Dublin.

In 2002–03, they reached the quarter-finals after a win against Gloucester, later issued on VHS under the title "The Miracle Match". In this game, Munster needed to win by a margin of at least 27 points and score a minimum of four tries to earn a quarter-final berth. They won 33–6 with four tries in a game that has become part of Munster rugby folklore. They again faced Leicester, this time at the Tigers' home of Welford Road, and defeated the reigning champions to progress to the semi-finals. They faced Toulouse in the semi-finals and lost out on a place in the final after losing by a single point in France. In this season, Munster won the Celtic League for the first time by beating Neath, 37–17 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff.

In 2003–04 it was more of the same. After an assured performance in the Pool stage they defeated Stade Français at Thomond Park to set up a semi-final date with English champions Wasps. This was considered one of the best Heineken Cup matches of all time. Although leading by 10 points in the second half, having already lost Ronan O'Gara to injury early on, they succumbed to 2 Wasps tries in injury time resulting in a Wasps v Toulouse final. Munster finished in a disappointing seventh position in the 2003/04 season of the Celtic League.

In 2004–05, after a shaky performance in the Pool stage, they qualified as 5th seeds and played Biarritz away. The match was played at Real Sociedad's ground, the Anoeta Stadium, in San Sebastián in Spain — the first Heineken Cup game ever played in Spain. Biarritz won 19–10 to avenge a 38–29 defeat at the same stage in 2001. Munster secured an impressive position of second in the 2004/05 season of the Celtic League.

In 2005–06, Munster qualified to the final of the Heineken Cup, having overcome rivals Leinster 30–6 in the semi final at Lansdowne Road. The final was held at the Millennium Stadium against Biarritz. Munster won 23–19 to become European champions for the first time. Munster finished one place lower than the previous season in the Celtic League, finishing third overall.

2006–07 was a disappointing season for Munster, losing their previously unbeaten European record at Thomond Park, by going down to the Leicester Tigers in the group stages. They later lost the quarter final to the Llanelli Scarlets. Munster's performance in the Celtic League was equally disappointing, finishing sixth overall.

In 2008, Munster signed Doug Howlett, the all-time leading try scorer for New Zealand. That season's Heineken Cup saw Munster finish top in their group, and they went on to reach the final for the second time in three years beating Saracens in the semi final. The final, again held at the Millennium Stadium, saw Munster defeat Toulouse 16–13 to claim their second Heineken Cup title in 3 years. Munster finished third in the Celtic League for the 2007–08 season.

In the 2008–09 season, Munster once again topped their group in the Heineken Cup and reached the semi-final, but lost to arch-rivals Leinster by 25–6, attended by a world record crowd of over 82,200. On 30 April 2009 Munster clinched the Celtic League for the second time in their history after closest challengers the Ospreys beat the Newport Gwent Dragons but failed to claim a bonus point, this handed the title to Munster who could not be overtaken at the top of the table.

The 2009–10 season saw Munster finish top of their Heineken Cup pool once again. Victories over Northampton Saints, French Top 14 champions USA Perpignan and Italian side Treviso saw Munster qualify for the Heineken Cup Quarter Finals for a record 12th consecutive year. The match took place in Thomond Park where Munster played Northampton Saints for the third time that season running out winners 33–19 and by four tries to one. They lost 18–7 in the semi-finals to Biarritz at the Anoeta. Munster came 4th in the Celtic League, but because this season saw the introduction of a play off system for the top four teams, Munster met and lost 16–6 to Leinster in the play-off semi final .

The 2010–11 season saw Munster drawn in Pool 3 of the Heineken Cup alongside Ospreys, London Irish and RC Toulon. Munster lost 23–17 away to London Irish, before defeating RC Toulon 45–18 at Thomond Park. Munster defeated Ospreys 22–16, but lost the reverse fixture at Liberty Stadium 19–15. In round 5 Munster went to Toulon, losing 32-16. As a result, Munster failed to qualify for the quarter finals of the Heineken Cup for the first time in 13 years. Munster won their final pool game, at home to London Irish, 28-14, and qualified for the Amlin Challenge Cup quarter finals. Munster defeated Leinster 24-23 on 2 April 2011 in the Celtic League, ending a run of 5 straight defeats. Munster defeated Brive 37-42 in their Amlin Challenge Cup quarter final to qualify for the semi-final against Harlequins on 30 April. Munster lost the semi-final in Thomond Park 20-12.

Munster finished first in the 2010–11 Celtic League. They beat Ospreys 18-11 in their semi-final to set up a Grand Final with Leinster, which Munster won 19-9, securing a third Celtic League title.

Munster were drawn in Pool One for the 2011–12 Heineken Cup, alongside Northampton Saints, Scarlets and Castres Olympique. They beat Northampton 23-21 in the first pool game at Thomond Park, after an 83rd minute drop-goal from Ronan O'Gara. In their second pool game, Munster beat Castres 24-27, with O'Gara again scoring an overtime drop-goal to secure victory. Munster won their third pool game, away to Scarlets, 14-17. In the return fixture a week later, Munster won 19-13. A 26-10 win over Castres on 14 January 2012 ensured that Munster qualified for the quarter-finals of the 2011-12 Heineken Cup. Munster ended their 2011-12 Heineken Cup Pool 1 games with a 36-51 victory against Northampton Saints, securing the top seed in the quarter-finals and winning 6 out of 6 pool matches for the first time.Munster lost the quarter-final against Ulster 16-22, losing just their second match at home in the Heineken Cup.Munster finished third in the 2011-12 RaboDirect Pro12 season, and played Ospreys away in the play-off semi-finals, losing 45-10.

Munster were again drawn in Pool One for the 2012–13 Heineken Cup, with Saracens F.C., Edinburgh Rugby and Racing Métro 92.The campaign opened with a 22-17 away defeat at the hands of Racing Métro 92.Munster won their second game, at home to Edinburgh, 33-0.