# 2005–06 Munster Rugby season

The 2005–06 Munster Rugby season was Munster's fifth season competing in the Celtic League, alongside which they also competed in the Heineken Cup. It was Declan Kidney's first season as head coach, in his second spell at the province.

## 2005–06 squad

Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.
| Player | Position | Union |
| Denis Fogarty | Hooker | Ireland |
| Jerry Flannery | Hooker | Ireland |
| Frankie Sheahan | Hooker | Ireland |
| Tony Buckley | Prop | Ireland |
| John Hayes | Prop | Ireland |
| Marcus Horan | Prop | Ireland |
| Eugene McGovern | Prop | Ireland |
| Federico Pucciariello | Prop | Italy |
| Frank Roche | Prop | Ireland |
| Mike Ross | Prop | Ireland |
| Trevor Hogan | Lock | Ireland |
| Donncha O'Callaghan | Lock | Ireland |
| Paul O'Connell | Lock | Ireland |
| Mick O'Driscoll | Lock | Ireland |
| Donnacha Ryan | Lock | Ireland |
| Anthony Foley (c) | Back row | Ireland |
| Stephen Keogh | Back row | Ireland |
| Denis Leamy | Back row | Ireland |
| John O'Sullivan | Back row | Ireland |
| Alan Quinlan | Back row | Ireland |
| David Wallace | Back row | Ireland |
| Player | Position | Union |
| Frank Murphy | Scrum-half | Ireland |
| Tomás O'Leary | Scrum-half | Ireland |
| Mike Prendergast | Scrum-half | Ireland |
| Peter Stringer | Scrum-half | Ireland |
| Paul Burke | Fly-half | Ireland |
| Jeremy Manning | Fly-half | Ireland |
| Ronan O'Gara | Fly-half | Ireland |
| Gary Connolly | Centre | England |
| Trevor Halstead | Centre | South Africa |
| Rob Henderson | Centre | Ireland |
| Jason Holland | Centre | Ireland |
| John Kelly | Centre | Ireland |
| Mike Mullins | Centre | Ireland |
| Barry Murphy | Centre | Ireland |
| Paul Devlin | Wing | Ireland |
| Ian Dowling | Wing | Ireland |
| Anthony Horgan | Wing | Ireland |
| Mossy Lawler | Wing | Ireland |
| Anton Pitout | Wing | South Africa |
| Christian Cullen | Fullback | New Zealand |
| Ben Martin | Fullback | Ireland |
| Shaun Payne* | Fullback | South Africa |

## Pre-season

* 19 August 2005
| Munster | 20–18 | Northampton Saints |
| | Report | |
* Musgrave Park
* 26 August 2005
| Leicester Tigers | 50–19 | Munster |
| | Report | |
* Welford Road Attendance: 7,700

## 2005–06 Celtic League

| | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | Try bonus | Losing bonus | Pts |
| 1 | Ulster | 20 | 15 | 1 | 4 | 510 | 347 | +163 | 49 | 31 | 3 | 2 | 75 |
| 2 | Leinster | 20 | 14 | 0 | 6 | 545 | 427 | +118 | 59 | 45 | 8 | 2 | 74 |
| 3 | Munster | 20 | 12 | 0 | 8 | 439 | 372 | +67 | 49 | 42 | 7 | 3 | 66 |
| 4 | Cardiff Blues | 20 | 11 | 0 | 9 | 475 | 389 | +86 | 51 | 38 | 6 | 5 | 63 |
| 5 | Edinburgh Gunners | 20 | 11 | 0 | 9 | 418 | 415 | +3 | 48 | 45 | 5 | 3 | 60 |
| 6 | Llanelli Scarlets | 20 | 10 | 1 | 9 | 418 | 402 | +16 | 49 | 37 | 3 | 4 | 57 |
| 7 | Ospreys | 20 | 11 | 0 | 9 | 381 | 409 | −28 | 33 | 38 | 1 | 2 | 55 |
| 8 | Newport Gwent Dragons | 20 | 7 | 0 | 13 | 355 | 456 | −101 | 40 | 51 | 2 | 7 | 45 |
| 9 | Border Reivers | 20 | 7 | 0 | 13 | 386 | 501 | −115 | 39 | 59 | 1 | 7 | 44 |
| 10 | Connacht | 20 | 6 | 0 | 14 | 325 | 466 | −141 | 28 | 51 | 1 | 4 | 37 |
| 11 | Glasgow Warriors | 20 | 5 | 0 | 15 | 371 | 439 | −68 | 39 | 47 | 2 | 7 | 37 |
| Under the standard bonus point system, points are awarded as follows: 4 points for a win 2 points for a draw 1 bonus point for scoring 4 tries (or more) (Try bonus) 1 bonus point for losing by 7 points (or fewer) (Losing bonus) ||||||||||||||
| Due to the uneven number of participating teams, each team had two free weekends and were awarded 4 match points each time. ||||||||||||||
| Source: RaboDirect PRO12 Archived 22 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine ||||||||||||||
* 2 September 2005 19:10
| Munster | 9–7 | Border Reivers |
| | Report | |
* Thomond Park Attendance: 3,500 Referee: Tim Hayes
* 10 September 2005 18:00
| Munster | 37–10 | Ospreys |
| | Report | |
* Musgrave Park Attendance: 6,700 Referee: David Changleng
* 17 September 2005 19:30
| Glasgow Warriors | 32–10 | Munster |
| | Report | |
* Hughenden Attendance: 1,884 Referee: Nigel Owens
* 23 September 2005 19:10
| Munster | 14–13 | Scarlets |
| | Report | |
* Musgrave Park Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Andy Ireland
* 1 October 2005 14:00
| Connacht | 19–44 | Munster |
| | Report | |
* Galway Sportsgrounds Attendance: 2,300 Referee: David Keane
* 9 October 2005 15:00
| Munster | 33–9 | Leinster |
| | Report | |
* Musgrave Park Attendance: 7,500 Referee: Simon McDowell
* 4 November 2005 19:30
| Cardiff Blues | 16–18 | Munster |
| | Report | |
* Cardiff Arms Park Attendance: 6,107 Referee: Peter Allan
* 3 December 2005 19:10
| Munster | 17–20 | Ulster |
| | Report | |
* Musgrave Park Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Alain Rolland
* 27 December 2005 19:35
| Munster | 36–17 | Connacht |
| | Report | |
* Thomond Park Attendance: 8,000 Referee: Alain Rolland
* 31 December 2005 13:00
| Leinster | 35–23 | Munster |
| | Report | |
* RDS Arena Attendance: 14,135 Referee: Alistair McKay
* 7 January 2006 19:30
| Edinburgh Gunners | 17–18 | Munster |
| | Report | |
* Murrayfield Attendance: 3,525 Referee: Hugh Watkins
* 28 January 2006 17:30
| Munster | 10–8 | Newport Gwent Dragons |
| | Report | |
* Musgrave Park Attendance: 5,000
* 18 February 2006 15:30
| Munster | 20–26 | Glasgow Warriors |
| | Report | |
* Thomond Park Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Nigel Owens
* 3 March 2006 19:35
| Ulster | 27–3 | Munster |
| | Report | |
* Ravenhill Attendance: 12,300 Referee: Alain Rolland
* 7 April 2006 19:10
| Newport Gwent Dragons | 23–17 | Munster |
| | Report | |
* Rodney Parade Attendance: 5,433 Referee: Peter Allan
* 15 April 2006 19:30
| Munster | 36–15 | Edinburgh Gunners |
| | Report | |
* Thomond Park Attendance: 9,000 Referee: Hugh Watkins
* 28 April 2006 19:30
| Border Reivers | 25–41 | Munster |
| | Report | |
* Netherdale Attendance: 1,266 Referee: Tim Hayes
* 5 May 2006 19:10
| Ospreys | 27–10 | Munster |
| | Report | |
* Liberty Stadium Attendance: 7,843 Referee: Graeme Hannah
* 9 May 2006 17:30
| Scarlets | 18–6 | Munster |
| | Report | |
* Stradey Park Attendance: 5,754
* 27 May 2006 17:30
| Munster | 37–8 | Cardiff Blues |
| | Report | |
* Thomond Park Attendance: 13,200 Referee: Andy Macpherson

## 2005–06 Heineken Cup
### Pool 1

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
| Munster (4) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 22 | 6 | 16 | 186 | 87 | 99 | 3 | 0 | 23 |
| Sale Sharks (7) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 9 | 8 | 159 | 84 | 75 | 3 | 0 | 23 |
| Newport Gwent Dragons | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 14 | 20 | −6 | 99 | 168 | −69 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Castres | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 26 | −18 | 90 | 195 | −105 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
Note: Munster took first place over Sale Sharks on competition points in head-to-head matches, 5–4.
* 21 October 2005 15:00
| Sale Sharks | 27–13 | Munster |
| | Report | |
* Edgeley Park Attendance: 10,704 Referee: Joël Jutge
* 29 October 2005 17:15
| Munster | 42–16 | Castres |
| | Report | |
* Thomond Park Attendance: 13,500 Referee: Dave Pearson
* 10 December 2005 13:00
| Newport Gwent Dragons | 8–24 | Munster |
| | Report | |
* Rodney Parade Attendance: 8,323 Referee: Tony Spreadbury
* 17 December 2005 17:15
| Munster | 30–18 | Newport Gwent Dragons |
| | Report | |
* Thomond Park Attendance: 13,200 Referee: Chris White
* 13 January 2006 20:30
| Castres | 9–46 | Munster |
| | Report | |
* Stade Pierre-Antoine Attendance: 9,423 Referee: Chris White
* 21 January 2006 17:15
| Munster | 31–9 | Sale Sharks |
| | Report | |
* Thomond Park Attendance: 13,200 Referee: Joël Jutge

### Quarter-final

* 1 April 2006 17:30
| Munster | 19–10 | Perpignan |
| | Report | |
* Lansdowne Road Attendance: 48,500 Referee: Nigel Whitehouse

### Semi-final

* 23 April 2006 15:00
| Leinster | 6–30 | Munster |
| | Report | |
* Lansdowne Road Attendance: 47,800 Referee: Joël Jutge

### Final

* 20 May 2006 15:00
| Biarritz | 19–23 | Munster |
| | Report | |
* Millennium Stadium Attendance: 74,534 Referee: Chris White