Horgan Joins ERC Elites

Shane Horgan joins his friend and team-mate Brian O’Driscoll on 25 tries in the tournament with Dafydd James on 29 and Toulouse’s Vincent Clerc on 30. Clerc’s try scoring feat is all the more spectacular given that it has come in 49 games.

Ronan O’Gara’s points haul against Perpignan pushed him further ahead in the Elite 1,000 club. In fact O’Gara is the only player to break the 1,000 point barrier with the next closest player being Stephen Jones on 789 points.

Of the leading five top points scorers in the Heineken Cup, two are Irish – O’Gara and David Humphreys – two are Welsh – Jones and Neil Jenkins – while Diego Dominguez makes up the quintet.

Munster still dominate the Elite 50 (players with 50 or more appearances in the competition) with seven players in the top 10.

John Hayes leads the field with 88 followed by O’Gara and Anthony Foley on 86. Peter Stringer, David Wallace, Marcus Horan and Alan Quinlan also feature.

Horgan’s 25th try came in his 73rd game for Leinster in the competition.

Elite 1000 Club (Points):

1,084 – Ronan O’Gara (Munster)

Elite 500 Club (Points):

789 – Stephen Jones (Scarlets 750, Clermont Auvergne 39)
645 – Diego Dominguez (Milan 64, Stade Francais 581)
564 – David Humphreys (Ulster)
502 – Neil Jenkins (Pontypridd 264, Cardiff 212, Celtic Warriors 26)

Elite 25 Club (Tries):

30 – Vincent Clerc (Toulouse)
29 – Dafydd James (Scarlets 15, Pontypridd 9, Bridgend 2, Celtic Warriors 1, Harlequins 2)
25 – Brian O’Driscoll (Leinster)
25 – Shane Horgan (Leinster)

Elite Teams (Matches):

104 – Toulouse, Munster
94 – Leicester Tigers
92 – Leinster
90 – Scarlets
86 – Cardiff Blues
84 – Ulster Rugby
75 – Stade Francais
74 – Edinburgh
72 – London Wasps
69 – Benetton Treviso
67 – Biarritz Olympique
64 – Glasgow Warriors, Perpignan
57 – Bath
52 – Northampton Saints

Elite 50 Club (Matches):

88 – John Hayes (Munster)
86 – Anthony Foley (Munster)
86 – Ronan O’Gara (Munster)
81 – Fabien Pelous (Dax 5, Toulouse 76), Peter Stringer (Munster)
74 – David Wallace (Munster)
73 – Shane Horgan (Leinster)
72 – Marcus Horan (Munster), Martyn Williams (Cardiff Blues 55, Pontypridd 17)
71 – Malcolm O’Kelly (Leinster), Stephen Jones (Scarlets 68, Clermont 3)
70 – Alan Quinlan (Munster)
69 – Martin Corry (Leicester)
67 – John Kelly (Munster)
66 – Chris Wyatt (Llanelli Scarlets 60, Bourgoin 6), Girvan Dempsey (Leinster)
65 – Ben Kay (Leicester), Donncha O’Callaghan (Munster)
64 – Yannick Bru (Toulouse), Vernon Cooper (Scarlets), Gordon D’Arcy (Leinster)
63 – Geordan Murphy (Leicester), Jean Bouilhou (Toulouse), Brian O’Driscoll (Leinster)
62 – Nicolas Brusque (Biarritz 48, Pau 14)
61 – Shane Byrne (Leinster 55, Saracens 6), Reggie Corrigan (Leinster), Sylvain Marconnet (Stade Français)
60 – Christian Labit (Toulouse 58, Northampton Saints 2), Dafydd James (Scarlets 30, Pontypridd 14, Bridgend 4, C Warriors 6, Quins 6),
59 – Graham Rowntree (Leicester), Leo Cullen (Leinster 46, Leicester 13)
58 – Simon Shaw (Wasps), Gareth Thomas (Cardiff Blues 28, Toulouse 18, Celtic Warriors 6, Bridgend 6), Ian Gough (Ospreys 17, Pontypridd 11, Newport 14, Newport Gwent Dragons 16)
57 – Victor Costello (Leinster), Trevor Brennan (Toulouse 35, Leinster 22), David Humphreys (Ulster), Justin Fitzpatrick (Ulster), Cedric Heymans (Toulouse 54, Brive 3), Yannick Jauzion (Toulouse 52, Colomiers 5)
56 – Anthony Horgan (Munster), Clement Poitrenaud (Toulouse)
55 – Robin McBryde (Scarlets), Shaun Payne (Munster 33, Swansea 22), Frankie Sheahan (Munster), David Auradou (Stade Francais), Chris Paterson (Edinburgh 49, Gloucester 6), Simon Easterby (Scarlets)
54 – Denis Hickie (Leinster), Garan Evans (Scarlets), Philippe Bidabe (Biarritz), Julien Peyrelongue (Biarritz), Allan Jacobsen (Edinburgh), William Servat (Toulouse)
53 – Austin Healey (Leicester), Alex King (Wasps 50, Clermont 3), Leon Lloyd (Leicester 50, Gloucester 3), Lawrence Dallaglio (Wasps), Nicolas Mas (Perpignan)
52 – Eric Miller (Leinster 34, Leicester 12, Ulster 6), Pieter de Villiers (Stade Francais), Mick O’Driscoll (Munster), Jerome Thion (Biarritz), Lewis Moody (Leicester)
51 – Martin Johnson (Leicester), John Davies (Scarlets), Joe Worsley (Wasps), Paul O’Connell (Munster), George Chuter (Leicester)
50 – Gary Longwell (Ulster), Serge Betsen (Biarritz 44, Wasps 6), Jean-Baptiste Poux (Toulouse)