Magners League: Round 18 Review
Edinburgh’s 36-14 victory over the Cardiff Blues at the Arms Park on Sunday in the final Magners League game of the season saw the Scottish outfit claim the runners-up spot behind champions Munster, their second place finish the highest ever achieved by a team from Scotland.
Three players started every Magners League game for their respective teams during the 2008/09 season – David Lyons of the Scarlets, Ally Hogg for Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors’ Kelly Brown.
Former Wallaby back rower Lyons played every minute of every game, never being replaced or sin-binned. This is the first time a player has achieved this feat in the Magners League.
Doug Howlett (Blues/Muster) became the fourth player to win Magners League and Super 12/14 titles, following Jim Williams (Brumbies/Munster) Justin Harrison (Brumbies/Ulster) and Justin Marshall (Crusaders/Ospreys).
Seven players topped 100 appearances in a Magners League career – Andrew Farley, Gareth Wyatt, Deiniol Jones, Jamie Ringer, Alastair Kellock, Bryn Cunningham and Vernon Cooper.
Five players broke through the 500-point career barrier during the season – Chris Paterson, Stephen Jones, Ronan O’Gara, Paul Warwick and Shaun Connor.
Dan Parks’ 159 points scored this season meant he overtook David Humphreys’ previous career record to top the chart with 889.
Meanwhile, Felipe Contepomi along with James Hook finished as the joint-top points scorers for the season with 161 points apiece.
Tommy Bowe broke Matthew Watkins’ record for the most tries scored in a Magners League career, his tally now stands at 31.
Thom Evans became the first Scot to top the charts for the number of tries scored in an individual season with nine touchdowns, whilst another Scottish player, Nick De Luca, scored the fastest try of the season
The 2009/10 Magners League season will start over the weekend of September 4-6.
2008/09 MAGNERS LEAGUE – AFTER ROUND 18:
TOP TRY SCORERS –
9 – Thom Evans (Glasgow Warriors)
8 – Fionn Carr (Connacht), Keith Earls (Munster)
7 – Ben Cairns (Edinburgh), Luke Fitzgerald (Leinster), Richard Fussell (Newport Gwent Dragons), Doug Howlett (Munster)
6 – Simon Danielli (Ulster), Martin Roberts (Scarlets)
5 – Darren Cave (Ulster), Lome Fa’atau (Glasgow Warriors), James Hook (Ospreys), Niall Ronan (Munster), Simon Webster (Edinburgh), Shane Williams (Ospreys)
4 – Lee Byrne (Ospreys), Nick De Luca (Edinburgh), Rocky Elsom (Leinster), Denis Leamy (Munster), Mark Jones (Scarlets), Deacon Manu (Scarlets), Ceri Sweeney (Cardiff Blues), Jason Tovey (Newport Gwent Dragons), David Wallace (Munster)
TOP POINTS SCORERS –
161 – Felipe Contepomi (Leinster) (19 conversions and 41 penalty goals)
161 – James Hook (Ospreys) (5 tries, 20 conversions, 30 penalty goals and 2 drop goals)
159 – Chris Paterson (Edinburgh) (3 tries, 27 conversions, 29 penalty goals and 1 drop goal)
124 – Ian Keatley (Connacht) (1 try, 13 conversions, 29 penalty goals and 2 drop goals)
117 – Dan Parks (Glasgow Warriors) (9 conversions, 30 penalty goals and 3 drop goals)
113 – Ben Blair (Cardiff Blues) (1 try, 15 conversions and 26 penalty goals)
108 – Stephen Jones (Scarlets) (2 tries, 16 conversions and 22 penalty goals)
88 – Paul Warwick (Munster) (3 tries, 17 conversions and 13 penalty goals)
86 – James Arlidge (Newport Gwent Dragons) (1 try, 9 conversions and 21 penalty goals)
80 – Ian Humphreys (Ulster) (1 try, 15 conversions and 15 penalty goals)
76 – Ronan O’Gara (Munster) (17 conversions, 13 penalty goals and 1 drop goal)
70 – Shaun Connor (Newport Gwent Dragons) (1 try, 7 conversions and 17 penalty goals)
63 – Rhys Priestland (Scarlets) (9 conversions and 15 penalty goals)
60 – Phil Godman (Edinburgh) (1 try, 5 conversions, 13 penalty goals and 2 drop goals)
55 – Dan Biggar (Ospreys) (5 conversions, 12 penalty goals and 3 drop goals)
BEST PLACE-KICKERS –
90% – Fergus McFadden (Leinster) (9 successful kicks out of 10 attempts)
83.58% – Chris Paterson (Edinburgh) (56/67)
81.82% – Phil Godman (Edinburgh) (18/22)
74.55% – Ben Blair (Cardiff Blues) (41/55)
73.17% – Felipe Contepomi (Leinster) (60/82), James Arlidge (Newport Gwent Dragons) (30/41)
73.08% – Stephen Jones (Scarlets) (38/52)
72.73% – Shaun Connor (Newport Gwent Dragons) (24/33)
71.43% – Ronan O’Gara (Munster) (30/42), Paul Warwick (Munster) (30/42)
67.57% – James Hook (Ospreys) (50/74)
65.22% – Ian Humphreys (Ulster) (30/46)
63.64% – Jonathan Sexton (Leinster) (7/11)
61.76% – Ian Keatley (Connacht) (42/68)
61.54% – Jason Tovey (Newport Gwent Dragons) (8/13)
60% – Ceri Sweeney (Cardiff Blues) (9/15)
58.82% – Clinton Schifcofske (Ulster) (20/34)
57.14% – Rhys Priestland (Scarlets) (24/42)
56.52% – Dan Parks (Glasgow Warriors) (39/69)
55.56% – Colin Gregor (Glasgow Warriors) (15/27)
54.84% – Dan Biggar (Ospreys) (17/31)
45.45% – Ruaridh Jackson (Glasgow Warriors) (4/11)
40% – Nicky Robinson (Cardiff Blues) (4/10)
Qual: 10 place-kicks at goal
RESULTS ROUND-UP –
Wednesday, May 13, 2009 at the Arms Park (rescheduled match)
Cardiff Blues (6) 9: Ben Blair(3P)
Scarlets (11) 30: Lee Williams(2T), Dominic Day(T), Darren Daniel(T), Rhys Priestland(2P), Stephen Jones(2C)
Attendance: 8,212
Friday, May 15, 2009 at Thomond Park
Munster (15) 36: Paul Warwick(T), David Wallace(2T), Denis Leamy(T), Anthony Horgan(T), Ronan O’Gara(4C/P)
Ospreys (10) 10: James Hook(T/C/P)
Attendance: 26,043
Munster v Ospreys Match Report
Munster v Ospreys Photo Gallery; Post-Match Celebrations Photo Gallery
Anthony Horgan Interview; Denis Fogarty Interview; Tony McGahan Interview
Friday, May 15, 2009 at Firhill Arena
Glasgow Warriors (8) 30: Colin Shaw(T), Hefin O’Hare(2T), Moray Low(T), Colin Gregor(2C/2P)
Connacht (9) 9: Ian Keatley(3P)
Attendance: 1,851
Glasgow Warriors v Connacht Match Report
Glasgow Warriors v Connacht Photo Gallery
Saturday, May 16, 2009 at Rodney Parade
Newport Gwent Dragons (12) 18: Penalty try, Martyn Thomas(T), Jason Tovey(C), James Arlidge(2P)
Leinster (6) 9: Fergus McFadden(3P)
Attendance: 5,426
Newport Gwent Dragons v Leinster Match Report
Newport Gwent Dragons v Leinster Photo Gallery
Saturday, May 16, 2009 at Parc y Scarlets
Scarlets (22) 43: Daniel Evans(T), Dominic Day(T), Lee Williams(T), Darren Daniel(T), Martin Roberts(T), David Lyons(T), Rhys Priestland(5C/P)
Ulster (10) 17: Paul Marshall(T), Darren Cave(T), Niall O’Connor(C/D), Ian Humphreys(C)
Attendance: 6,219
Scarlets v Ulster Match Report
Scarlets v Ulster Photo Gallery
Sunday, May 17, 2009 at the Arms Park
Cardiff Blues (14) 14: Nicky Robinson(T), Chris Czekaj(T), Ben Blair(2C)
Edinburgh (3) 36: Penalty try, Ben Cairns(T), Nick De Luca(2T), Phil Godman(T), Chris Paterson(4C/P)
Attendance: 11,212