1996–97 Leinster Rugby season

1996–97 Leinster Rugby season
Ground(s)	Donnybrook, Dublin
Coach(es)	Jim Glennon; Ciaran Callan; Paul Dean
Captain	Chris Pim
League(s)	Heineken Cup (3rd in pool); IRFU Interprovincial Championship (2nd of 4)
← 1995–96	1997–98 →

The 1996-97 season was Leinster's second season under professionalism. Ciaran Callan was officially head coach, but team manager Jim Glennon was in overally charge, with Callan coaching the forwards and Paul Dean coaching the backs.^[1] Chris Pim was captain. They finished third in their pool in the Heineken Cup, and second in the IRFU Interprovincial Championship.

Ground(s)Donnybrook, Dublin

Coach(es)Jim Glennon
Ciaran Callan
Paul Dean

CaptainChris Pim

League(s)Heineken Cup (3rd in pool)
IRFU Interprovincial Championship (2nd of 4)

Quick facts Ground(s), Coach(es) ...

Close

At this stage the Irish provinces were still representative teams, not professional clubs. However, the provinces were now offering contracts and match fees for Heineken Cup and Interprovincial matches, although these contracts sometimes conflicted with players contracted to clubs in England.^[2]

[1]

[2]

Leinster Rugby squad
Props Paul Flavin (Blackrock) Henry Hurley (Moseley) Angus McKeen (Lansdowne) Paul Wallace (Saracens) Hookers James Blaney (Terenure) Shane Byrne (Blackrock) Mark McDermott (Lansdowne) Locks Greg Duffy (Old Wesley) Neil Francis (Old Belvedere) Steve Jameson (St Mary's College) Malcolm O'Kelly (London Irish)	Back row Victor Costello (London Irish) Kelvin Leahy (Wanderers) Dean Oswald (Blackrock) Chris Pim (Old Wesley) (c) Stephen Rooney (Landsowne) Kevin Spicer (Oxford) Scrum-halves Niall Hogan (Oxford/Terenure) Alain Rolland (Blackrock) Fly-halves Richard Governey (Landsdowne) Alan McGowan (Blackrock)	Centres Vince Cunningham (St Mary's) Ray McIlreavy (St Mary's) Kurt McQuilkin (Lansdowne) Martin Ridge (Old Belvedere) Wings Paddy Gavin (Old Belvedere) Darragh O'Mahony (Lansdowne) Denis Hickie (St Mary's College) David Coleman (Terenure) Girvan Dempsey (Terenure) Fullbacks Peter McKenna (Old Belvedere) Ciaran Clarke (Terenure)

(c) denotes the team captain, Bold denotes internationally capped players. ^* denotes players qualified to play for Ireland on residency or dual nationality.

Team	P	W	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
Leicester	4	4	0	14	3	11	114	43	71	8
Llanelli	4	2	2	9	9	0	97	81	16	4
Leinster	4	2	2	9	12	−3	86	109	−23	4
Pau	4	1	3	19	10	9	137	103	34	2
Scottish Borders	4	1	3	7	24	−17	80	178	−98	2

12 October 1996 14:30	Llanelli	34–17	Leinster	Stradey Park
	Try: Wyatt Moon Boobyer Con: Botica (2) Pen: Botica (5)	Report^[3]	Try: Gavin McKenna O'Mahony Con: Governey	Attendance: 2,800
Leinster lineup: 1. Henry Hurley, 2. Mark McDermott, 3. Paul Wallace, 4. Neil Francis, 5. Malcolm O'Kelly, 6. Chris Pim, 7. Stephen Rooney, 8. Victor Costello, 9. Alain Rolland, 10. Richard Governey, 11. Darragh O'Mahony, 12. Kurt McQuilkin, 13. Ray McIlreavy, 14. Paddy Gavin. 15. Peter McKenna. Replacement: Niall Hogan.				Attendance: 2,800

16 October 1996 18:45	Leinster	10–27	Leicester Tigers	Lansdowne Road
	Try: Penalty try Con: McGowan Pen: McGowan	Report^[4]	Try: Rowntree Kardooni Wells Con: Liley (3) Pen: Liley (2)	Attendance: 3,500
Leinster lineup: 1. Henry Hurley, 2. Mark McDermott, 3. Paul Wallace, 4. Neil Francis, 5. Malcolm O'Kelly, 6. Chris Pim, 7. Victor Costello, 8. Stephen Rooney, 9. Alain Rolland, 10. Alan McGowan, 11. Darragh O'Mahony, 12. Martin Ridge, 13. Kurt McQuilkin, 14. Patrick Gavin. 15. Peter McKenna. Replacement: Ciaran Clarke, Richard Governey.				Attendance: 3,500

26 October 1996 14:30	Borders	25–34	Leinster	The Greenyards
	Try: Aitken Changleng Parker Con: Parker (2) Pen: Parker (2)	Report^[5]	Try: Oswald Clarke McGowan Hickie Con: McGowan Pen: McGowan (4)	Attendance: 3,500
Leinster lineup: 1. Henry Hurley, 2. Mark McDermott, 3. Angus McKeen, 4. Neil Francis, 5. Malcolm O'Kelly, 6. Chris Pim, 7. Dean Oswald, 8. Victor Costello, 9. Niall Hogan, 10. Alan McGowan, 11. Darragh O'Mahony, 12. Kurt McQuilkin, 13. Martin Ridge, 14. Denis Hickie. 15. Ciaran Clarke. Replacements: Girvan Dempsey, Stephen Rooney.				Attendance: 3,500

1996–97 Leinster Rugby season

Players selected

Heineken Cup

IRFU Interprovincial Championship

References

Related Articles

2 November 1996 14:30	Leinster	25–23	Pau	Donnybrook
	Try: McQuilkin Con: McGowan Pen: McGowan (6)	Report^[6]	Try: Claverie Paille Aucagne Con: Aucagne	Attendance: 4,000
Leinster lineup: 1. Henry Hurley, 2. Mark McDermott, 3. Paul Wallace, 4. Malcolm O'Kelly, 5. Neil Francis, 6. Chris Pim, 7. Victor Costello, 8. Dean Oswald, 9. Niall Hogan, 10. Alan McGowan, 11. Darragh O'Mahony, 12. Kurt McQuilkin, 13. Martin Ridge, 14. Denis Hickie. 15. Ciaran Clarke. Replacements: James Blaney, Stephen Rooney.				Attendance: 4,000

Team	P	W	L	F	A	BP	Pts	Status
Munster	3	3	0	117	92	-	6	Champions; qualified for 1997–98 Heineken Cup
Leinster	3	1	2	88	92	-	2	Qualified for 1997–98 Heineken Cup
Ulster	3	1	2	81	89	-	2	Qualified for 1997–98 Heineken Cup
Connacht	3	1	2	77	90	-	2	Qualified for 1997–98 European Challenge Cup

21 September 1996	Ulster	25-35	Leinster	Ravenhill
	Try: Ritchie Duncan Topping Con: Laing (2) Pen: Laing (2)	Preview^[7] Report^[8]	Try: McKenna (2) Jameson Spicer Con: Governey (3) Pen: Governey (3)	Referee: L. Mayne
Leinster lieup: 1. Henry Hurley, 2. Mark McDermott, 3. Angus McKeen (Lansdowne), 4. Steve Jameson, 5. Greg Duffy, 6. Chris Pim (c), 7. Dean Oswald, 8. Kevin Spicer, 9. Niall Hogan, 10. Richard Governey, 11. Denis Hickie (St. Mary's), 12. Kurt McQuilkin (Lansdowne), 13. Martin Ridge (Old Belvedere), 14. David Coleman (Terenure), 15. Peter McKenna (Old Belvedere).				Referee: L. Mayne

28 September 1996	Leinster	40–45	Munster	Donnybrook
	Try: Coleman Ridge McQuilkin Francis Hickie Con: Governey (3) Pen: Governey (3)	Report^[9]^[10]	Try: Galwey (2) Halvey Con: Begley Lynch (2) Pen: Begley (8) Lynch (2) Drop: Keane	Referee: Graham Hughes
Leinster lineup: 1. Henry Hurley, 2. Mark McDermott, 3. Angus McKeen, 4. Steve Jameson, 5. Neil Francis, 6. Chris Pim (c), 7. Stephen Rooney, 8. Kevin Spicer, 9. Alain Rolland, 10. Richard Governey, 11. Denis Hickie, 12. Kurt McQuilkin, 13. Martin Ridge, 14. David Coleman, 15. Peter McKenna. Replacements: Girvan Dempsey (for Coleman), Paul Flavin (for McKeen).				Referee: Graham Hughes

5 October 1996	Connacht	22-13	Leinster	Galway Sportsgrounds
	Try: Leahy Elwood Pen: Elwood (3)	Report^[11]	Try: Francis Con: Governey Pen: Governey (2)
Leinster lineup: 1. Paul Flavin, 2. Mark McDermott, 3. Angus McKeen, 4. Steve Jameson, 5. Neil Francis, 6. Kelvin Leahy, 7. Kevin Spicer, 8. Stephen Rooney, 9. Alain Rolland (c), 10. Richard Governey, 11. Darragh O'Mahony, 12. Kurt McQuilkin, 13. Martin Ridge, 14. Paddy Gavin, 15. Peter McKenna. Replacemets: Shane Byrne (for McDermott 30'), Vince Cunningham (for Ridge 35'), Greg Duffy (for Francis 38').