Season 2014/15 In Stats

725 points, 87 tries and 10 new Munster caps, check out Munster’s 2014/15 season in facts and figures here.

The season just gone saw a new indigenous management team under the stewardship of Head Coach Anthony Foley guide Munster through a total of 24 Guinness PRO12 and 6 European Champions Cup encounters.

With a total of 19 wins to their name, Munster scored an average of 24 points per game, scoring 87 tries across all competitions, an increase of 3 tries on last season’s tally.

After a slow league start to the season for Munster that involved two home defeats in September – against Edinburgh and Ospreys – Foley’s charges soon rallied to remain undefeated at home for the remainder of the league, also becoming the PRO12’s best away side suffering just three defeats on the road in the regular season – Warriors and Connacht in December and Ospreys in March.

It’s also worth noting that Munster held the best attacking record of the regular league season, scoring 68 tries, 5 tries clear of the next closest side Glasgow Warriors. Munster also performed well in terms of defence, conceding only 31 tries, just 1 more than Ospreys who achieved the best defensive record.

On the European front, perhaps the most memorable encounter was Munster’s pool opener against Sale Sharks in October when the province overcame a 16 point deficit with an injury time drop-goal from Ian Keatley stealing a 26-27 win for the Men in Red.

However, later in the competition Munster would succumb to a French side at Thomond Park for the first time in their European history when Clermont proved too strong in Limerick, running out 9-16 winners in early December. In another unwelcomed first for the province, further defeats away to the French outfit and London based Saracens would cost Munster a place in the play-off stages of the Champions Cup, and, with Challenge Cup qualification no longer available to those knocked out of the premier competition, Munster found themselves with no European play-off for the first time in 17 years.

The province did at least finish their European campaign with a flourish, achieving their 100^th win in Europe in a 9 try, 65-10 thumping of Sale Sharks at Thomond Park – their highest scoring match of 2014/15.

Across the season Foley used a total of 46 players including 10 Munster debutants – new signings Robin Copeland, Andrew Smith, Eusebio Guinazu, Kevin O’Byrne and Pat Howard, Academy graduate Shane Buckey, Academy players Jack O’Donoghue, Rory Scannell and Darren Sweetnam and Garryowen club player Neil Cronin.

In terms of appearances tighthead BJ Botha led the field with 29 appearances out of a total of 30 games across all competitions.

Botha was also one of five players to win their 100th Munster cap in 2014/15 including Billy Holland, Keith Earls, Tommy O'Donnell and Ian Keatley.

For the fifth consecutive season Keatley was Munster’s top points scorer with a tally of 247 points though 50 penalties, 43 conversions, 2 drop-goals and 1 try. The fly-half also became only the third player in league history to score over a 1000 points – for Connacht and Munster – and was the PRO12’s top points accumulator – kicks and tries – for 2014/15.

In the try scoring stakes, Simon Zebo is another to retain his crown for the fifth consecutive season, scoring 11 tries and coming within three of Anthony Horgan’s all-time Munster try record of 41. The season also saw the winger become Munster’s leading league try scorer on 23 tries, overtaking the previous landmark set by Doug Howlett.

Munster Rugby Player of the Year CJ Stander led the charge when it came to Man of the Match accolades, picking up a hugely impressive 7 awards with Conor Murray the next best on 4.

With squad captain Peter O’Mahony missing a portions of the season due to injury and international duty, 5 players, Donncha O’Callaghan, Felix Jones, Denis Hurley, Murray and O’Mahony himself, all led the side at different stages across the season.

4 was the number of sell-outs for Munster home fixtures this season – Saracens, Clermont, Leinster and Newport-Gewnt Dragons (Cork) – with attendances growing by 3.2% which was primarily driven by attendances at the newly redeveloped Irish Independent Park. This increase is despite the fact that Munster were knocked out of Europe prior to the final home Champions Cup game, which had a significant impact on ticket sales for the said match.