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2001–02 Celtic League
1st edition of the Celtic League
1st edition of the Celtic League
| Field | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| countries | {{plainlist | |
| teams | 15 | |
| champions | IRE Leinster | |
| count | 1 | |
| runnersup | IRE Munster | |
| matches | 56 | |
| attendance | {{#expr: | |
| tries | {{#expr: | |
| top point scorer | David Humphreys (Ulster), 122 points | |
| top try scorer | {{plainlist | |
| * Girvan Dempsey (Leinster), 7<ref name | TopTries/ | |
| * Denis Hickie (Leinster), 7<ref name | TopTries/ | |
| website | www.rabodirectpro12.com | |
| nextseason | [2002–03](2002-03-celtic-league) |
- IRE Ireland (4 teams)
- SCO Scotland (2 teams)
- WAL Wales (9 teams)
- 3500 + 6000 + 4500 + 3000
- 4000 + 3000 + 6095 + 0
- 3200 + 8000 + 4000 + 4300
- 4110 + 0 + 3500 + 3000
- 2000 + 5000 + 2500 + 2650
- 3056 + 4500 + 2179 + 8000
- 5375 + 2800 + 3200 + 4000
- 5410 + 3500 + 4000
- 1800 + 5000 + 6260
- 3075 + 6000 + 7500
- 2250 + 1900 + 6164
- 550 + 2648 + 4560
- 1500 + 5000 + 5821
- 6055 + 0 + 455 +12000 + 7300 + 0 + 0
- 5500 +12500 +30000
- 3 + 4 + 4 + 7
- 2 + 3 + 6 + 4
- 9 + 4 + 1 + 7 +11 + 4 + 2 + 3
- 5 + 2 + 3 +10
- 9 + 3 +11 + 9
- 0 + 5 + 4 + 4
- 2 + 6 + 0
- 5 + 3 +10
- 6 + 4 + 4
- 3 + 8 + 3
- 4 + 5 + 4 +10 + 6 + 2
- 8 + 2 + 9
- 4 + 7 + 6 + 1
- 5 + 0
- 5
- Girvan Dempsey (Leinster), 7
- Denis Hickie (Leinster), 7 The 2001–02 Celtic League was the inaugural season of the Celtic League. The first season would see fifteen teams compete: the four Irish provinces: Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster; two Scottish teams: Edinburgh Reivers and Glasgow; and all nine Welsh Premier Division teams: Bridgend, Caerphilly, Cardiff, Ebbw Vale, Llanelli, Neath, Newport, Pontypridd and Swansea.
Played alongside each country's own national competitions, the teams were split into two groups (of 8 and 7) and played a series of round-robin matches with each team playing the other only once. The top four teams from each group proceeded into the knock-out phase until a champion was found. Clashes between teams in the 2001–02 Welsh-Scottish League also counted towards the new competition.
The 2001–02 competition was dominated by the Irish teams with all four sides reaching the last eight, three progressing to the semi-finals, and the final played at Lansdowne Road contested between Leinster and Munster with Leinster running out 24–20 winners. Leinster's 10–0 debut 'perfect season' is one of only two in the history of the competition in its various forms. The other, a 17–0 record, was also achieved by Leinster was in 2020.
Background
Wales and Scotland had joined forces for the 1999 and 2000 seasons, with the expansion of the Welsh Premier Division to include Edinburgh and Glasgow to form the Welsh-Scottish League.
In 2001, an agreement was made between the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), Scottish Rugby Union (SRU) and Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) to create a new competition which would bring in the four Irish provinces. 2001 would see the very first incarnation of the Celtic League.
Teams and personnel
Overview
| Country | Team | Stadia information | Coach | Stadia | Capacity | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ireland Ireland | Connacht | The Sportsground | 6,129 | Galway, County Galway | RSA Steph Nel | |
| Leinster | Donnybrook Stadium | 6,000 | Donnybrook, County Dublin | AUS Matt Williams | ||
| Munster | Thomond Park | 25,600 | Limerick, County Limerick | IRE Declan Kidney | ||
| Musgrave Park | 8,008 | Ballyphehane, County Cork | ||||
| Ulster | Ravenhill Stadium | 18,196 | Belfast, Northern Ireland | RSA Alan Solomons | ||
| SCO Scotland | Edinburgh | Myreside Stadium | 13,799 | Edinburgh, Lothian | SCO Frank Hadden | |
| Glasgow | Hughenden | 6,000 | Hyndland, Strathclyde | SCO Richie Dixon | ||
| WAL Wales | Bridgend | Brewery Field | 8,000 | Bridgend, Bridgend County Borough | WAL Dennis John | |
| Caerphilly | Virginia Park | 6,000 | Caerphilly, Caerphilly County Borough | WAL Gareth Nicholas | ||
| Cardiff | Cardiff Arms Park | 12,125 | Cardiff | RSA Rudy Joubert | ||
| Ebbw Vale | Eugene Cross Park | 8,000 | Blaenau Gwent | WAL Mike Ruddock | ||
| Llanelli | Stradey Park | 10,800 | Llanelli, Carmarthenshire | WAL Gareth Jenkins | ||
| Neath | The Gnoll | 6,000 | Neath, Neath Port Talbot | WAL Lyn Jones | ||
| Newport | Rodney Parade | 8,700 | Newport | ZIM Ian McIntosh | ||
| Pontypridd | Sardis Road | 7,861 | Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf | WAL Lynn Howells | ||
| Swansea | St Helen's | 4,500 | Brynmill, Swansea | NZL John Plumtree |
Locations
| **Location of Irish, Scottish and Welsh teams:** | **Location of Welsh teams:** |
|---|
Pool stage
The teams were split into two pools and the pool stage consisted of a single round-robin; each team played the other teams in its pool once only.
Pool A
Pool A standings
Pool A results
Pool B
Pool B standings
Pool B results
Knockout stage
Bracket
|30 November – Dublin|IRE Leinster|34|WAL Newport|22 |1 December – Galway|IRE Connacht|29|SCO Glasgow|34 |1 December – Limerick|IRE Munster|13|WAL Llanelli|6 |30 November – Belfast|IRE Ulster|38|WAL Neath|29 |7 December – Dublin|IRE Leinster|35|SCO Glasgow|13 |8 December – Dublin|IRE Munster|15|IRE Ulster|9 |15 December – Dublin|IRE Leinster|24|IRE Munster|20
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
| AUS Matt Williams |
|---|
| IRE Declan Kidney |
|---|
|}
Leading scorers
Note: Flags to the left of player names indicate national team as has been defined under IRB eligibility rules, or primary nationality for players who have not yet earned international senior caps. Players may hold one or more non-IRB nationalities.
Top points scorers
| Rank | Player | Club | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ireland David Humphreys | Ireland Ulster | 122 |
| 2 | COK Tommy Hayes | SCO Glasgow | 111 |
| 3 | WAL Lee Jarvis | WAL Neath | 100 |
| 4 | AUS Nathan Spooner | Ireland Leinster | 97 |
| 5 | WAL Stephen Jones | WAL Llanelli | 89 |
Top try scorers
| Rank | Player | Club | Tries |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ireland Girvan Dempsey | Ireland Leinster | 7 |
| Ireland Denis Hickie | Ireland Leinster | ||
| 3 | NZL Craig Hudson | WAL Cardiff | 6 |
| Ireland Wayne Munn | Ireland Connacht | ||
| 5 | Ireland Mike Mullins | Ireland Munster | 5 |
References
References
- "Attendances". Rugby Network.
- "Leading Points-Scorers". RaboDirect PRO12.
- "Leading Try-Scorers". RaboDirect PRO12.
This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.
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