Munster: Heineken Cup Player Records
Yesterday we looked at Munster in Europe, today we focus on the players that helped make it happen. IrishRugby.ie takes a look at the men who have amassed the points for Munster in the Heineken Cup.
When you look at the player records for Munster in the Heineken Cup it is hard to get past two names. Ronan O’Gara and Anthony Foley.
Most points? Ronan O’Gara on 924.
Most tries? Anthony Foley on 23.
Most points in a match? Ronan O’Gara with 29 against Newport in the 2000/01 campaign.
Most tries in a match? Anthony Foley with 3 against Biarritz in the 2000/01 campaign.
But as any Munster player or supporter will tell you, it is not about just one or two players. And while those two dominate the records there are many other players who have contributed to the Munster points tally in Europe.
Next in line to Foley in the try stakes are the recently retired John Kelly and Anthony Horgan, both of whom scored 14 tries for the province in the tournament. Just behind them is Jason Holland on 13 and then current squad member Alan Quinlan on 12.
The dominance of the Munster pack is also shown by the fact that Mick Galwey, Denis Leamy, Frankie Sheahan and David Wallace have all scored 9 tries while Marcus Horan is just one behind on 8.
The table below shows the list of try scorers for Munster in the Heineken Cup:
In terms of overall points, we know that Ronan O’Gara will dominate the list. His 83 points so far this season see him third behind Glen Jackson of Saracens on 98 and James Hook of Ospreys on 84. In the Munster all-time list, Killian Keane is second behind O’Gara with 118 points. Foley comes in third with 115 while Jason Holland clocked up 84 points.
The table below shows the points amassed by Munster players in the Heineken Cup:
Foley once again dominates the appearences table and he will be hoping to add to his record 85 appearences in this his last season. In fact Munster players dominate the overall Heineken Cup appearences table.
Foley, John Hayes (76), Peter Stringer (74), O’Gara (72) and John Kelly (67) are five of the top six most-capped players in Heineken Cup history, joined by Fabien Pelous (Dax 5, Toulouse 67). Their nearest Irish rival is Leinster’s Shane Horgan with 63 Heineken Cup caps.
The table below shows the list of Munster players capped in the Heineken Cup: