2001–02 Celtic League

1st edition of the Celtic League July 2023 July 2023 IRE rugby union Ireland (4 teams) SCO Scotland (2 teams) WAL Wales (9 teams) 15 IRE rugby union Leinster 1 IRE rugby union Munster 56 {{#expr: + 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 | tries = {{#expr: + 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 }} | top point scorer = David Humphreys (Ulster), 122 points | top try scorer = Girvan Dempsey (Leinster), 7 Denis Hickie (Leinster), 7 | website = www.rabodirectpro12.com | nextseason = 2002–03 }} 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 LocationIreland rugby union 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 rugby union Declan Kidney Musgrave Park 8,008 Ballyphehane, County Cork Ulster Ravenhill Stadium 18,196 Belfast, Northern Ireland RSA Alan SolomonsSCO Scotland Edinburgh Myreside Stadium 13,799 Edinburgh, Lothian SCO Frank Hadden Glasgow Hughenden 6,000 Hyndland, Strathclyde SCO Richie DixonWAL 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: United Kingdom and Ireland 450 center United Kingdom and Ireland 54.576389 -5.904444 left Disc Plain green.svg 5 #FEFEEA Ulster United Kingdom and Ireland 53.279 -9.0397 top Disc Plain blue.svg 5 #FEFEEA Connacht United Kingdom and Ireland 53.325556 -6.229444 bottom Disc Plain green.svg 5 #FEFEEA Leinster United Kingdom and Ireland 52.674167 -8.6425 bottom Disc Plain blue.svg 5 #FEFEEA Munster United Kingdom and Ireland 55.8811 -4.3418 left Disc Plain green.svg 5 #FEFEEA Glasgow United Kingdom and Ireland 55.941667 -3.244167 bottom Disc Plain blue.svg 5 #FEFEEA Edinburgh United Kingdom and Ireland 51.679167 -4.129167 top Disc Plain red.svg 5 #FEFEEA Welsh teams 95 Location of Welsh teams: UK Wales 415 center UK Wales 51.51 -3.581667 bottom Disc Plain green.svg 5 #FEFEEA Bridgend 95 UK Wales 51.581833 -3.217 bottom Disc Plain blue.svg 5 #FEFEEA Caerphilly 95 UK Wales 51.479722 -3.183611 bottom Disc Plain blue.svg 5 #FEFEEA Cardiff 95 UK Wales 51.785278 -3.206389 top Disc Plain green.svg 5 #FEFEEA Ebbw Vale 95 UK Wales 51.686944 -4.175278 top Disc Plain green.svg 5 #FEFEEA Llanelli 95 UK Wales 51.663469 -3.797161 top Disc Plain blue.svg 5 #FEFEEA Neath 95 UK Wales 51.588333 -2.987778 right Disc Plain blue.svg 5 #FEFEEA Newport 95 UK Wales 51.601389 -3.348056 top Disc Plain green.svg 5 #FEFEEA Pontypridd 95 UK Wales 51.6125 -3.965556 bottom Disc Plain green.svg 5 #FEFEEA Swansea 95 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 main Rugby Pool A globalrugbyresults.com no no no 3 1 LEI, ULS, GLA, LLA, SWA, BRI, PON, EBB complete 7 0 0 281 114 C 4 1 2 194 157 4 1 2 204 172 4 0 3 175 123 3 0 4 124 158 3 0 4 161 208 1 0 6 111 207 1 0 6 134 245 IRE rugby union Leinster IRE rugby union Ulster SCO Glasgow WAL Llanelli WAL Swansea WAL Bridgend WAL Pontypridd WAL Ebbw Vale Q KO KO KO KO green1 Advance to knockout stage Pool A results 17 August 19:15 Bridgend WAL 19–27 Report WAL Pontypridd Brewery Field 3,500 David McHugh (Ireland) 17 August 19:30 Ulster IRE rugby union 30–13 Report WAL Swansea Ravenhill Stadium 6,000 Chris White (England) 17 August 19:35 Leinster IRE rugby union 39–11 Report SCO Glasgow Donnybrook Stadium 4,500 Paul Adams (Wales) 18 August 18:00 Llanelli WAL 46–16 Report WAL Ebbw Vale Stradey Park 3,000 Alain Rolland (Ireland) 24 August 19:05 Llanelli WAL 17–19 Report IRE rugby union Leinster Stradey Park 4,000 Nigel Whitehouse (Wales) 24 August 19:30 Ebbw Vale WAL 18–13 Report WAL Pontypridd Eugene Cross Park 3,000 24 August 19:30 Glasgow SCO 25–25 Report IRE rugby union Ulster Hughenden Stadium 6,095 Nigel Whitehouse (Wales) 25 August 18:00 Swansea WAL 16–25 Report WAL Bridgend St Helen's 3,250http://www.rugbynetwork.net/boards/read/s170.htm?221,9004498 Attendances Rugby Network 3 March 2008 28 February 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20170228075140/http://www.rugbynetwork.net/boards/read/s170.htm?221,9004498 live 28 August 19:00 Leinster IRE rugby union 55–13 Report WAL Ebbw Vale Donnybrook Stadium 3,200 John Barnard (England) 28 August 19:00 Ulster IRE rugby union 26–27 Report WAL Llanelli Ravenhill Stadium 8,000 Rob Dickson (Scotland) 28 August 19:15 Pontypridd WAL 6–11 Report WAL Swansea Sardis Road 4,000 Alan Lewis (Ireland) 29 August 19:00 Bridgend WAL 50–15 Report SCO Glasgow Brewery Field 4,300 31 August 19:30 Glasgow SCO 59–14 Report WAL Pontypridd Hughenden Stadium 4,110 Alain Rolland (Ireland) 31 August 19:35 Leinster IRE rugby union 31–9 Report IRE rugby union Ulster Nigel Williams (Wales) 1 September 14:30 Ebbw Vale WAL 21–26 Report WAL Swansea Eugene Cross Park 3,500 David Davies (Wales) 1 September 14:30 Llanelli WAL 36–3 Report WAL Bridgend Stradey Park 3,000 7 September 19:05 Ebbw Vale WAL 27–29 Report IRE rugby union Ulster Eugene Cross Park 2,000 Tony Spreadbury (England) 8 September 14:30 Pontypridd WAL 17–19 Report WAL Llanelli Sardis Road 5,000 Nigel Whitehouse (Wales) 8 September 14:30 Swansea WAL 13–21 Report SCO Glasgow St Helen's 2,500 Donal Courtney (Ireland) 8 September 19:30 Bridgend WAL 32–51 Report IRE rugby union Leinster Brewery Field 2,650 Steve Lander (England) 11 September 19:00 Leinster IRE rugby union 52–14 Report WAL Pontypridd Donnybrook Stadium 3,056 Rob Dixon (England) 11 September 19:05 Llanelli WAL 21–27 Report WAL Swansea Stradey Park 4,500 David McHugh (Ireland) 11 September 19:30 Glasgow SCO 58–22 Report WAL Ebbw Vale Hughenden Stadium 2,179 Olan Trevor (Ireland) 12 September 19:30 Ulster IRE rugby union 46–14 Report WAL Bridgend Ravenhill Stadium 8,000 Alain Rolland (Ireland) 14 September 19:30 Glasgow SCO 15–9 Report WAL Llanelli Hughenden Stadium 5,375 David Tyndall (Ireland) 15 September 14:30 Ebbw Vale WAL 17–18 Report WAL Bridgend Eugene Cross Park 2,800 Nigel Williams (Wales) 15 September 14:30 Pontypridd WAL 20–29 Report IRE rugby union Ulster Sardis Road 3,200 Chris White (England) 15 September 14:30 Swansea WAL 18–34 Report IRE rugby union Leinster St Helen's 4,000 Iain Ramage (Scotland) Pool B Pool B standings main Rugby Pool B globalrugbyresults.com no no no 3 1 MUN, CON, NEA, NEW, CAR, EDI, CAE complete 5 0 1 228 120 4 0 2 152 97 4 0 2 151 116 3 0 3 147 109 3 0 3 128 135 2 0 4 134 159 0 0 6 88 292 IRE rugby union Munster IRE rugby union Connacht WAL Neath WAL Newport WAL Cardiff SCO Edinburgh WAL Caerphilly Q KO KO KO KO green1 Advance to knockout stage Pool B results 17 August 19:30 Edinburgh SCO 22–25 Report IRE rugby union Munster Myreside 5,410 Nigel Williams (Wales) 18 August 14:30 Caerphilly WAL 13–43 Report WAL Neath Virginia Park 3,500 Tony Spreadbury (England) 18 August 14:30 Cardiff WAL 3–6 Report IRE rugby union Connacht Cardiff Arms Park 4,000 Rob Dickson (Scotland) 24 August 18:15 Connacht IRE rugby union 21–30 ReportSeptember 2025 medicmedic SCO Edinburgh The Sportsground 1,800 24 August 19:00 Neath WAL 25–14 ReportSeptember 2025 medicmedic WAL Cardiff The Gnoll 5,000 25 August 14:30 Newport WAL 50–22 ReportSeptember 2025 medicmedic WAL Caerphilly Rodney Parade 6,260 28 August 19:30 Edinburgh SCO 20–32 Report WAL Neath Myreside 3,075 Donal Courtney (Ireland) 28 August 19:35 Munster IRE rugby union 40–19 Report IRE rugby union Connacht Thomond Park 6,000 Paul Adams (Wales) 29 August 19:00 Cardiff WAL 20–14 Report WAL Newport Cardiff Arms Park 7,500 Steve Lander (England) 31 August 19:05 Neath WAL 30–22 Report IRE rugby union Munster The Gnoll 2,250 1 September 14:30 Caerphilly WAL 15–49 Report WAL Cardiff Virginia Park 1,900 Paul Adams (Wales) 1 September 14:30 Newport WAL 29–11 Report SCO Edinburgh Rodney Parade 6,164 Olan Trevor (Ireland) 7 September 18:15 Connacht IRE rugby union 28–10 Report WAL Neath The Sportsground 550 Jim Yuille (Scotland) 7 September 19:30 Edinburgh SCO 27–20 Report WAL Caerphilly Myreside 2,648 7 September 19:35 Munster IRE rugby union 29–21 Report WAL Newport Musgrave Park 4,560 Iain Ramage (Scotland) 11 September 19:15 Caerphilly WAL 18–61 Report IRE rugby union Munster Virginia Park 1,500 11 September 19:15 Cardiff WAL 32–24 Report SCO Edinburgh Cardiff Arms Park 5,000 Tony Spreadbury (England) 11 September 19:30 Newport WAL 14–16 Report IRE rugby union Connacht Rodney Parade 5,821 15 September 13:30 Munster IRE rugby union 51–10 Report WAL Cardiff Musgrave Park 6,055 Rob Dickson (Scotland) 15 September 17:30 Neath WAL 11–19 Report WAL Newport The Gnoll 3,625 Gareth Simmons (Wales) 16 September 15:00 Connacht IRE rugby union 62–0 Report WAL Caerphilly The Sportsground 455 Steve Leyshon (England) Knockout stage Bracket 30 November – Dublin IRE rugby union Leinster 34 WAL Newport 22 1 December – Galway IRE rugby union Connacht 29 SCO Glasgow 34 1 December – Limerick IRE rugby union Munster 13 WAL Llanelli 6 30 November – Belfast IRE rugby union Ulster 38 WAL Neath 29 7 December – Dublin IRE rugby union Leinster 35 SCO Glasgow 13 8 December – Dublin IRE rugby union Munster 15 IRE rugby union Ulster 9 15 December – Dublin IRE rugby union Leinster 24 IRE rugby union Munster 20 Quarter-finals 30 November 19:05 Ulster IRE rugby union 38–29 Report WAL Neath Ravenhill Stadium 12,000 30 November 19:35 Leinster IRE rugby union 34–22 Report WAL Newport Donnybrook Stadium 7,300 1 December 14:00 Connacht IRE rugby union 29–34 Report SCO Glasgow The Sportsground 1 December 17:30 Munster IRE rugby union 13–6 Report WAL Llanelli Thomond Park Semi-finals 7 December 19:30 Leinster IRE rugby union 35–13 Report SCO Glasgow Lansdowne Road 5,500 8 December 15:00 Munster IRE rugby union 15–9 Report IRE rugby union Ulster Lansdowne Road 12,500 Final 15 December 15:00 Leinster IRE rugby union 24–20 Report IRE rugby union Munster Lansdowne Road 30,000 Nigel Whitehouse (Wales) 15 Girvan Dempsey 14 Denis Hickie 13 Brian O'Driscoll 12 Shane Horgan 11 Gordon D'Arcy 10 Nathan Spooner 9 Brian O'Meara 8 Victor Costello 7 Keith Gleeson 6 Eric Miller 5 Malcolm O'Kelly 4 Leo Cullen 3 Paul Wallace 2 Shane Byrne 1 Reggie Corrigan (c)Substitutes: 16 Peter Coyle 17 Gavin Hickie 18 Bob Casey 19 Trevor Brennan 20 Ben Willis 21 Peter McKennaCoach:AUS Matt Williams 15 Dominic Crotty 14 Anthony Horgan 13 John Kelly 12 Rob Henderson 11 John O'Neill 10 Ronan O'Gara 9 Mike Prendergast 8 Anthony Foley 7 Alan Quinlan 6 Jim Williams 5 Paul O'Connell 4 Mick Galwey (c) 3 Peter Clohessy 2 Frankie Sheahan 1 Marcus HoranSubstitutes: 16 Martin Cahill 18 Mick O'Driscoll 19 Colm McMahon 21 Jason Holland 22 Mike MullinsCoach:IRE rugby union 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 ClubPointshttp://www.rabodirectpro12.com/statzone/index.php?includeref=11057&season=2001 Leading Points-Scorers RaboDirect PRO12 13 November 2013 17 January 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20140117070311/http://www.rabodirectpro12.com/statzone/index.php?includeref=11057&season=2001 live 1 Ireland rugby union David Humphreys Ireland rugby union Ulster 122 2 COK Tommy Hayes SCO Glasgow 111 3 WAL Lee Jarvis WAL Neath 100 4 AUS Nathan Spooner Ireland rugby union Leinster 97 5 WAL Stephen Jones WAL Llanelli 89 Top try scorers Rank Player ClubTrieshttp://www.rabodirectpro12.com/statzone/index.php?includeref=11059&season=2001 Leading Try-Scorers RaboDirect PRO12 13 November 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20140117070255/http://www.rabodirectpro12.com/statzone/index.php?includeref=11059&season=2001 17 January 2014 dead 1 Ireland rugby union Girvan Dempsey Ireland rugby union Leinster7 Ireland rugby union Denis Hickie Ireland rugby union Leinster3 NZL Craig Hudson WAL Cardiff6 Ireland rugby union Wayne Munn Ireland rugby union Connacht5 Ireland rugby union Mike Mullins Ireland rugby union Munster5 External links Official Web site Tables Fixtures and results Season Archive at BBC References 2001-02 Celtic Celtic Celtic Celt