Celtic Cup (rugby union)

The Celtic Cup was a rugby union cup competition featuring regional and provincial teams from Ireland, Scotland and Wales that ran for two seasons between 2003 and 2005. The first edition of the competition was won by Ulster and the second by Munster, both from Ireland. After the Welsh teams agreed to join the English Premiership clubs to form the Anglo-Welsh Cup for the 2005–06 season, the Celtic Cup was discontinued. A separate competition under the same name was inaugurated in 2018 for Welsh and Irish development sides.

Celtic Cup
SportRugby union
Instituted2003
Inaugural season2003–04
Ceased2004–05
Number of teams12 (2003–04), 8 (2004–05)
NationsIreland Ireland
 Scotland
 Wales
HoldersMunster (2004–05)
Most titlesMunster
Ulster (1 title)
Broadcast partnerBBC
Related competitionCeltic League

Formation

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Following the inception of Welsh regional rugby ahead of the 2003–04 season, the format of the Celtic League tournament was changed so that each team would play each other twice, home and away, with the side that accumulated the most points during the season winning the title. This was a change from previous seasons, which culminated in a knock-out format competition leading to a final. In a bid to attract broadcasters, sponsors and the public by having a "showpiece" final, the Irish, Scottish and Welsh unions agreed to launch a new knock-out cup competition, naming it the Celtic Cup.[1]

2003–04 season

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In the inaugural season, the competition was contested by all 12 Celtic League sides and ran concurrently with the league on four weekends between September and December 2003. The tournament was a knock-out format, played over one leg with the first team drawn in each fixture hosting the match. Due to the number of teams competing, eight teams contested the first round in mid-September, while four teams (Edinburgh, Munster, Ulster and Cardiff Blues) were given byes to the quarter-finals, where they would meet the winners from the first round.[2] The winning teams from the first round were Connacht, Glasgow, Leinster and the Llanelli Scarlets.

The quarter-finals took place on the first weekend of October, with Edinburgh, Glasgow and Connacht winning their games. Ulster and Leinster drew their game 23–23 after extra time, but Ulster progressed having scored three tries to Leinster's two.[3] The semi-finals took place in mid-November and saw both the away teams win, as Ulster beat Glasgow and Edinburgh beat Connacht. The final was played at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh on 20 December 2003, and saw Ulster beat Edinburgh 27–21 to win the Celtic Cup.[4]

 
Preliminary roundQuarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
              
 
20 September – Llanelli
 
 
  Llanelli Scarlets40
 
3 October – Llanelli
 
  NG Dragons6
 
  Llanelli Scarlets12
 
19 September – Galway
 
  Connacht14
 
  Connacht26
 
15 November – Galway
 
  Borders21
 
  Connacht25
 
 
  Edinburgh26
 
 
3 October – Edinburgh
 
 
  Edinburgh33
 
 
  Cardiff Blues16
 
 
20 December – Edinburgh
 
 
  Edinburgh21
 
20 September – Bridgend
 
  Ulster27
 
  Celtic Warriors9
 
3 October – Glasgow
 
  Glasgow19
 
  Glasgow18
 
 
  Munster14
 
 
15 November – Glasgow
 
 
  Glasgow13
 
 
  Ulster20
 
 
3 October – Belfast
 
 
  Ulster23 (3t)
 
20 September – Dublin
 
  Leinster23 (2t)
 
  Leinster35
 
 
  Ospreys21
 

Final

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20 December 2003
14:30 GMT
Edinburgh  21–27  Ulster
Try: Webster
Lee
Blair
Con: Paterson (3/3)
ReportTry: Best
Frost
Con: Humphreys (1/2)
Pen: Humphreys (5)
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Attendance: 17,174
Referee: Nigel Williams (Wales)

2004–05 season

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The format of the competition was changed for the 2004–05 season. It was moved to April and May to run after the conclusion of the Celtic League competition, and only the top eight teams from the league took part, again in a straight knockout format. The quarter-final fixtures were based on the teams' finishing positions in the Celtic League, with the league winners Neath-Swansea Ospreys hosting the eighth-placed side Ulster, second-placed Munster hosting seventh-placed Edinburgh, third-placed Leinster hosting sixth-placed Glasgow and fourth-placed Newport Gwent Dragons hosting fifth-placed Llanelli Scarlets. In this way, the tournament was similar to a play-off system, although the Celtic League and Celtic Cup remained trophies in their own right.

Rather than continuing with the automatic home advantage for the highest-seeded teams remaining in the semi-finals, the fixtures were instead decided by a draw.[5] Munster beat Leinster in Dublin, and the Scarlets won at home to the Ospreys. The final took place on 14 May at Lansdowne Road and saw Munster beat the Scarlets 27–16 to win the second Celtic Cup.[6]

 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
22 April – Dublin
 
 
  Leinster33
 
29 April – Dublin
 
  Glasgow24
 
  Leinster17
 
22 April – Limerick
 
  Munster23
 
  Munster24
 
6 May – Dublin
 
  Edinburgh14
 
  Munster27
 
22 April – Newport
 
  Llanelli Scarlets16
 
  NG Dragons19
 
29 April – Llanelli
 
  Llanelli Scarlets49
 
  Llanelli Scarlets23
 
22 April – Swansea
 
  Ospreys15
 
  Ospreys23
 
 
  Ulster16
 

Final

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14 May 2005
17:30 IST
Munster  27–16  Llanelli Scarlets
Try: Horgan 6' c
O'Gara 22' c
Mullins 76' c
Con: O'Gara (3/3)
Pen: O'Gara 39'
Drop: O'Gara 40'
ReportTry: Phillips 34' c
Con: C. Thomas (1/1)
Pen: C. Thomas (3) 12', 42', 59'
Lansdowne Road, Dublin
Attendance: 11,500
Referee: Joel Jutge (France)
FB 15   Shaun Payne
RW 14   Paul Devlin   64'
OC 13   Mike Mullins
IC 12   Rob Henderson
LW 11   Anthony Horgan
FH 10   Ronan O'Gara
SH 9   Peter Stringer
N8 8   Anthony Foley (c)
OF 7   David Wallace
BF 6   Alan Quinlan
RL 5   Paul O'Connell
LL 4   Donncha O'Callaghan
TP 3   John Hayes
HK 2   Frankie Sheahan
LP 1   Marcus Horan   28'
Substitutions:
HK 16   Jerry Flannery
PR 17   Gordon McIlwham   28'
LK 18   Trevor Hogan
FL 19   Denis Leamy   64'
SH 20   Mike Prendergast
FH 21   Paul Burke
CE 22   James Storey
Coach:
  Alan Gaffney
 
FB 15   Barry Davies
RW 14   Garan Evans
OC 13   Matthew Watkins
IC 12   Tal Selley
LW 11   Aisea Havili   55'
FH 10   Ceiron Thomas
SH 9   Mike Phillips
N8 8   Andy Powell   55'
OF 7   Gavin Thomas
BF 6   Simon Easterby (c)
RL 5   Chris Wyatt   64'
LL 4   Vernon Cooper
TP 3   John Davies
HK 2   Matthew Rees   70'
LP 1   Phil John
Substitutions:
PR 16   David Maddocks
HK 17   Aled Gravelle   70'
LK 18   Adam Jones   64'
FL 19   Gavin Quinnell   55'
SH 20   Chris McDonald
FH 21   Gareth Bowen
WG 22   Salesi Finau   55'
Coach:
  Gareth Jenkins

Demise

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At the end of the 2004–05 season, the Welsh regions signed a deal to join the English Premiership clubs in an Anglo-Welsh Cup competition from the 2005–06 season. With clashing fixtures in the two competitions, the fallout led to the Irish and Scottish sides withdrawing from Celtic competition at the end of May.[7] Talks between the three countries in June led to an agreement to reinstate the Celtic League, but not the Celtic Cup.[8]

For the 2009–10 season, the Celtic League adopted a play-off format similar to that used for the 2004–05 Celtic Cup, but involving the top four teams in the league at the end of the season rather than the top eight. However the Celtic Cup name was not revived and the winners of the play-offs were instead crowned the overall Celtic League champions.[9]

References

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  1. ^ "New Celtic League format agreed". BBC Sport. 6 May 2003. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  2. ^ "Celtic rugby's brave new world". BBC Sport. 3 July 2003. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  3. ^ "Ulster earn countback win". BBC Sport. 3 October 2003. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  4. ^ "Ulster hold on for victory". BBC Sport. 20 December 2003. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  5. ^ "Cup draw disappoints the Ospreys". BBC Sport. 22 April 2005. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  6. ^ "Munster 27-16 Scarlets". BBC Sport. 14 May 2005. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  7. ^ "Celtic League season cancelled". ESPNscrum. ESPN Enterprises. 31 May 2005. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  8. ^ "Welsh back in the Celtic fold". ESPNscrum. ESPN Enterprises. 20 June 2005. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  9. ^ Petrie, Richard (29 May 2010). "Leinster 12–17 Ospreys". BBC Sport. Retrieved 31 May 2010.