History of rugby union matches between Leinster and Connacht

Last updated

Connacht Rugby and Leinster Rugby are two Irish rugby union provincial teams that possess a rivalry that dates back to their IRFU Interprovincial Championship clashes during the amateur era. That rivalry has continued and even intensified since the emergence of the professional era in the late 1990s. Connacht and Leinster comprise two of the four Irish provincial teams competing in the Pro14 (formerly known as the Celtic League). As such, the two sides regularly face each other during the regular season, and occasionally during the knock-out rounds.

Contents

The rivalry has been heightened on several occasions due to certain games or events. Connacht and Leinster met in the 2016 Pro12 Grand Final, with Connacht winning 20–10, to claim their first Pro12 championship. [1] [2] Leinster has observed that the rivalry leads Connacht to raise their game when playing Leinster, leading to resentment among Leinster players when this causes them to lose matches they had expected to win. [3] Connacht defeated Leinster 47–10 in 2017, and were so comfortable in their victory that they had a forward kick a conversion. [4] Connacht and Leinster players have recognized the rivalry that exists between the two teams. [5]

Below are the historical results of the Irish Rugby Football Union teams, Leinster and Connacht, as part of the IRFU Interprovincial Championship, and later the Celtic League, Pro12 and Pro14. [6] [7]

Overall Summary of Games Since 1946

PlayedWon by LeinsterWon by ConnachtDrawn
10784194

Statistics

RecordConnachtLeinster
Longest winning streak2 (2015–2016)20 (1965–1985)
Largest points for
Home47 (2017–18)56 (2021–22)
Away35 (2020–21)53 (1999–00)
Largest winning margin
Home37 (47–10; 2017–18)47 (54–7; 2019–20)
Away11 (24–35; 2020–21)45 (8–53; 1999–00)
Largest aggregate score
76 (Leinster 56 Connacht 20; 2021–22)
Lowest aggregate score
0 (Leinster 0 Connacht 0; 1960–61)

Results between 1946 and 1995

SeasonWinnerLoserWinnerNote(s)
1946–47Leinster 5Connacht 5Draw (1)
1947–48Leinster 15Connacht 0Leinster (1)
1948–49Leinster 3Connacht 0Leinster (2)
1949–50Leinster 31Connacht 3Leinster (3)
1950–51Connacht 10Leinster 6Connacht (1)
1951–52Leinster 39Connacht 3Leinster (4)
1952–53Leinster 35Connacht 0Leinster (5)
1953–54Leinster 34Connacht 14Leinster (6)
1954–55Leinster 6Connacht 3Leinster (7)
1955–56Connacht 8Leinster 6Connacht (2)
1956–57Leinster 19Connacht 3Leinster (8)
1957–58Leinster 9Connacht 3Leinster (9)
1958–59Leinster 9Connacht 3Leinster (10)
1959–60Leinster 3Connacht 3Draw (2)
1960–61Leinster 0Connacht 0Draw (3)Lowest scoring match in the history of this fixture
1961–62Leinster 13Connacht 9Leinster (11)
1962–63Leinster 18Connacht 17Leinster (12)
1963–64Leinster 11Connacht 6Leinster (13)
1964–65Leinster 6Connacht 6Draw (4)
1965–66Leinster 13Connacht 6Leinster (14)
1966–67Leinster 26Connacht 3Leinster (15)
1967–68Leinster 24Connacht 11Leinster (16)
1968–69Leinster 15Connacht 6Leinster (17)
1969–70Leinster 26Connacht 6Leinster (18)
1970–71Leinster 11Connacht 3Leinster (19)
1971–72Leinster 12Connacht 6Leinster (20)
1972–73Leinster 13Connacht 0Leinster (21)
1973–74Leinster 20Connacht 13Leinster (22)
1974–75Leinster 12Connacht 3Leinster (23)
1975–76Leinster 7Connacht 0Leinster (24)
1976–77Leinster 21Connacht 7Leinster (25)
1977–78Leinster 30Connacht 9Leinster (26)
1978–79Leinster 13Connacht 6Leinster (27)
1979–80Leinster 25Connacht 10Leinster (28)
1980–81Leinster 18Connacht 9Leinster (29)
1981–82Leinster 20Connacht 10Leinster (30)
1982–83Leinster 13Connacht 7Leinster (31)
1983–84Leinster 29Connacht 6Leinster (32)
1984–85Leinster 14Connacht 3Leinster (33)
1985–86Connacht 9Leinster 6Connacht (3)
1986–87Leinster 41Connacht 6Leinster (34)
1987–88Leinster 20Connacht 19Leinster (35)
1988–89Connacht 11Leinster 10Connacht (4)
1989–90Leinster 16Connacht 12Leinster (36)
1990–91Leinster 20Connacht 18Leinster (37)
1991–92Leinster 24Connacht 9Leinster (38)
1992–93Connacht 28Leinster 9Connacht (5)
1993–94Leinster 15Connacht 11Leinster (39)
1994–95Connacht 20Leinster 19Connacht (6)

Results since 1995/96 season

SeasonHomeAwayWinnerNote(s)
1995–96Leinster 41Connacht 9Leinster (40)
1996–97Connacht 22Leinster 13Connacht (7)
1997–98Leinster 23Connacht 6Leinster (41)
1998–99Leinster 29Connacht 24Leinster (42)
1998–99Connacht 24Leinster 23Connacht (8)
1999–00Leinster 22Connacht 19Leinster (43)
1999–00Connacht 8Leinster 53Leinster (44)
2000–01Leinster 21Connacht 15Leinster (45)
2000-01Connacht 22Leinster 20Connacht (9)
2001–02Connacht 20Leinster 49Leinster (46)
2002-03Leinster 23Connacht 26Connacht (10)
2003–04Leinster 21Connacht 6Leinster (47)
2003–04Connacht 35Leinster 24Connacht (11)
2004–05Leinster 18Connacht 9Leinster (48)
2004–05Connacht 21Leinster 26Leinster (49)
2005–06Connacht 9Leinster 21Leinster (50)
2005–06Leinster 16Connacht 13Leinster (51)
2005–06Connacht 16Leinster 31Leinster (52)
2005–06Leinster 30Connacht 21Leinster (53)
2006–07Leinster 29Connacht 9Leinster (54)
2006–07Connacht 10Leinster 16Leinster (55)
2008–09Connacht 19Leinster 18Connacht (12)
2008–09Leinster 26Connacht 18Leinster (56)
2009–10Leinster 17Connacht 14Leinster (57)
2009–10Connacht 27Leinster 13Connacht (13)
2010–11Connacht 6Leinster 18Leinster (58)
2010–11Leinster 30Connacht 8Leinster (59)
2011–12Leinster 30Connacht 20Leinster (60)
2011–12Connacht 13Leinster 15Leinster (61)
2012–13Connacht 34Leinster 6Connacht (14)
2012–13Leinster 17Connacht 0Leinster (62)
2013–14Leinster 16Connacht 12Leinster (63)
2013–14Connacht 8Leinster 16Leinster (64)
2014–15Connacht 10Leinster 9Connacht (15)
2014–15Leinster 21Connacht 11Leinster (65)
2015–16Leinster 13Connacht 0Leinster (66)
2015–16Connacht 7Leinster 6Connacht (16)
2015–16Connacht 20Leinster 10Connacht (17) 2016 Pro12 Grand Final
2016–17Leinster 24Connacht 13Leinster (67)
2016–17Connacht 24Leinster 37Leinster (68)
2017–18Leinster 21Connacht 18Leinster (69)
2017–18Connacht 47Leinster 10Connacht (18)Highest margin of victory for Connacht
2018–19Connacht 3Leinster 20Leinster (70)
2018–19Leinster 33Connacht 29Leinster (71)
2019–20Connacht 11Leinster 42Leinster (72)
2019–20Leinster 54Connacht 7Leinster (73)Highest margin of victory for Leinster
2020–21Leinster 24Connacht 35Connacht (19)
2020–21Connacht 21Leinster 50Leinster (74) Rainbow Cup fixture
2021–22 Leinster 47Connacht 19Leinster (75)
2021–22 Connacht 8Leinster 45Leinster (76) [8]
2021–22 Connacht 21Leinster 26Leinster (77) [9]
2021–22 Leinster 56Connacht 20Leinster (78)Highest scoring match between the two sides [10]
2022–23 Connacht 0Leinster 10Leinster (79) [11]
2022–23 Leinster 41Connacht 12Leinster (80) [12]
2023–24 Connacht 22Leinster 24Leinster (81) [13]
2023–24 Leinster 33Connacht 7Leinster (82) [14]
2024–25 Connacht 12Leinster 33Leinster (83) [15]
2024–25 Leinster 20Connacht 12Leinster (84) [16]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Rugby Championship</span> Annual rugby union competition in Europe and South Africa

The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. For sponsorship reasons the league is known as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in South Africa, and the BKT United Rugby Championship in the competition's other territories, the split branding mirroring the format previously adopted in Super Rugby. The Championship represents the highest level of domestic club or franchise rugby in each of its constituent countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ulster Rugby</span> Rugby union team in island of Ireland

Ulster Rugby is one of the four professional provincial rugby union teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the Irish regional pool of the United Rugby Championship and in the European Rugby Champions Cup, each of which they have won once. Ulster were the first Irish team and the first team outside England and France to win the European Cup in 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Connacht Rugby</span> Rugby team in Ireland

Connacht Rugby is one of the four professional provincial rugby teams from the island of Ireland. Connacht competes in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU Connacht Branch, which is one of four primary branches of the IRFU, and is responsible for rugby union throughout the geographical Irish province of Connacht.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leinster Rugby</span> Rugby union team in Ireland

Leinster Rugby is one of the four professional provincial club rugby union teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rugby union in Ireland</span>

Rugby union is a popular team sport on the island of Ireland, organised on an all-Ireland basis, including players and teams from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Its governing body, the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), was founded in 1875, making it the third oldest rugby union in the world after the RFU (England) and the SRU (Scotland), which were both founded in 1871.

The IRFU Women's Interprovincial Series, previously known as the IWRFU Interprovincial Championship, is the top level women's rugby union competition in Ireland. It is organised by the Irish Rugby Football Union. It is the women's equivalent of the IRFU Interprovincial Championship. The competition takes place every December and features four teams representing Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster. The competition effectively acts as a selection trials process for the Ireland women's national rugby union team that competes in the subsequent Women's Six Nations Championship. Since 2016 the IRFU has also organised a similar under 18s competition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aviva Stadium</span> Sports stadium in Dublin, Ireland

Aviva Stadium, also known as Lansdowne Road or Dublin Arena, is a sports stadium located in Dublin, Ireland, with a capacity for 51,711 spectators. It is built on the site of the former Lansdowne Road Stadium, which was demolished in 2007, and replaced it as home to its chief tenants: the Irish rugby union team and the Republic of Ireland football team. The decision to redevelop the stadium came after plans for both Stadium Ireland and Eircom Park fell through. Aviva Group Ireland signed a 10-year deal for the naming rights in 2009, and subsequently extended the arrangement until 2025.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Madigan</span> Rugby player

Ian Madigan is an Irish former professional rugby union player for Leinster, Bordeaux, Bristol Bears, Ulster and Ireland. His primary position was at fly-half, although he also played at centre and full-back.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Cooney (rugby union)</span> Irish rugby union player

John Cooney is an Irish rugby union player who plays scrum-half for Irish provincial side Ulster in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup, having previously played for Leinster and Connacht, and has eleven caps for Ireland. Since joining Ulster in 2017, he has been nominated for EPCR European Player of the Year once, been named in the Pro14 Dream Team four times, and been Ulster's player of the year twice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of rugby union matches between Leinster and Munster</span>

Leinster versus Munster is, according to some Irish commentators, one of the biggest provincial rivalries in world rugby, which dates back to 1879, the year of founding of the provincial sides. Games between the two have occurred on an annual basis since the inception of the Irish inter-provincial championship in 1946. Since the beginning of the inter-provincials in 1946, Leinster hold a 63–45 advantage in overall wins, with five draws. Additionally, since the inception of the Celtic League in the 2001–02 season, Leinster hold a 36–18 advantage in overall wins, with one draw in that time.

The IRFU Interprovincial Championship was a rugby union competition between the four provinces of Ireland – Ulster, Leinster, Munster and Connacht – run by the Irish Rugby Football Union. It was run as a distinct competition from 1946–47 to 2000–01, with the 2001–02 fixtures being fulfilled by the match-ups in the newly formed Celtic League. For a time in the 1980s, the IRFU ruled that Irish diaspora players should play for Connacht, in an attempt to strengthen the weakest of the four provinces. The Irish Exiles took part for four years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joey Carbery</span> Irish rugby union player

Joseph Carbery is an Irish rugby union player who plays as a fly-half for Top 14 club Union Bordeaux Bègles. Born in New Zealand, he represents Ireland at international level after qualifying on ancestry grounds.

The 2017–18 season was Irish provincial rugby union side Connacht Rugby's seventeenth season competing in the Pro14, and the team's twenty-second season as a professional side. It was Kieran Keane's first and only season in charge of the side.

The 2018–19 Pro14 is the eighteenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the second season to be referred to as the Pro14.

Ciarán Frawley is a professional rugby union player who plays as a centre for United Rugby Championship club Leinster and represents Ireland at international level.

Leinster versus Ulster is the oldest fixture in Irish rugby, with the first ever interprovincial match taking place between the sides in 1875. As such, a healthy rivalry has developed between the two provincial rivals.

Munster versus Ulster is a rivalry that dates back to the foundation of the game in Ireland in 1879. Games between the two have occurred on an annual basis since the inception of the IRFU Interprovincial Championship in 1946. Since the beginning of the inter-provincials in 1946, Ulster hold a 55–42 advantage in overall wins, with ten draws. Additionally, since the inception of the Celtic League in 2001–02, Munster hold a slender 24–21 advantage in wins, with two draws in that time.

Munster versus Connacht is a rivalry that dates back to the foundation of the game in Ireland in 1879. Games between the two have occurred on an annual basis since the inception of the IRFU Interprovincial Championship in 1946. Since the beginning of the inter-provincials in 1946, Munster hold an 88–13 advantage in overall wins, with three draws. Additionally, since the inception of the Celtic League in 2001–02, Munster hold a 36–9 advantage in overall wins, with one draw in that time.

Connacht Rugby and Ulster Rugby are two Irish rugby union provincial teams that possess a rivalry that dates back to their IRFU Interprovincial Championship clashes during the amateur era. That rivalry has continued during the professional era and intensified as Connacht have more competitive in the domestic league, winning 2015-16 Pro12 championship. Connacht and Ulster comprise two of the four Irish provincial teams competing in the United Rugby Championship. As such, the two sides regularly face each other during the regular season. Typically, Ulster have had the advantage in the series with Connacht failing to achieve a single victory over Ulster between 1965 and 1982. Following Connacht's victory in 1983, it would not be until the 1997–98 season until they would achieve their next victory over Ulster. Connacht also went 58 years without winning a match in Belfast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2001–02 Ulster Rugby season</span> Professional provincial Rugby Union playing season

The 2001–02 season was Ulster Rugby's seventh under professionalism, and their first under head coach Alan Solomons. They competed in the Heineken Cup, the IRFU Interprovincial Championship, and the inaugural Celtic League. Flanker Andy Ward was captain.

References

  1. ↑ "Connacht see off Leinster to win first Pro12 title at Murrayfield". Guardian. 28 May 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  2. ↑ "Connacht make history with epic victory over Leinster in Pro 12 final". Irish Independent. 28 May 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  3. ↑ "THE REASON BEHIND THE UNSPOKEN RIVALRY BETWEEN LEINSTER AND CONNACHT", OTB Sports, Ciaran Bradley, 19 December 2018.
  4. ↑ "Connacht-Leinster needle was 'always there' - Sexton", RTE, Michael Glennon, 27 September 2018.
  5. ↑ "Connacht-Leinster needle was 'always there' - Sexton", RTE, Michael Glennon, 27 September 2018.
  6. ↑ "Team History Archive". Irishrugby.ie.
  7. ↑ "Leinster Fixtures & Results". leinsterrugby.ie.
  8. ↑ "Early red card hampers Connacht as Leinster score six tries in easy win". the42. 26 March 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  9. ↑ "Leinster take 5-point lead into second leg after thrilling encounter with Connacht". the42. 8 April 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  10. ↑ "Lowe bags 4 as Leinster demolish Connacht to power into Champions Cup QFs". the42. 15 April 2022. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  11. ↑ "Leinster weather the storm to escape from Galway with yet another win". the42. 14 October 2022. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  12. ↑ "Larmour lights up RDS but Leinster lose Sexton to injury in 7-try win over Connacht". the42. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  13. ↑ "MATCH REPORT: CONNACHT 22 LEINSTER 24". Leinster rugby. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  14. ↑ "Five-try Leinster end Connacht's season during RDS swansong". Irish Times. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  15. ↑ "Leinster maintain perfect start with win against Connacht but sweat on Ciarán Frawley injury". RTE. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
  16. ↑ "United Rugby Championship: Leinster 20-12 Connacht - recap". RTE. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.