# 2004–05 Munster Rugby season

The 2004–05 Munster Rugby season was Munster's fourth season competing in the Celtic League, alongside which they also competed in the Heineken Cup. It was Alan Gaffney's second and final season as head coach.

## 2004–05 squad

Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.
| Player | Position | Union |
| James Blaney | Hooker | Ireland |
| Denis Fogarty | Hooker | Ireland |
| Jerry Flannery | Hooker | Ireland |
| Frankie Sheahan | Hooker | Ireland |
| Ross Callaghan | Prop | Ireland |
| John Hayes | Prop | Ireland |
| Marcus Horan | Prop | Ireland |
| Eugene McGovern | Prop | Ireland |
| Gordon McIlwham | Prop | Ireland |
| Frank Roche | Prop | Ireland |
| Tom Bowman | Lock | Australia |
| Tommy Hayes | Lock | Ireland |
| Trevor Hogan | Lock | Ireland |
| Donncha O'Callaghan | Lock | Ireland |
| Paul O'Connell | Lock | Ireland |
| Anthony Foley | Back row | Ireland |
| Stephen Keogh | Back row | Ireland |
| Denis Leamy | Back row | Ireland |
| Johnny O'Connor | Back row | Ireland |
| David Pusey | Back row | Australia |
| Alan Quinlan | Back row | Ireland |
| David Wallace | Back row | Ireland |
| Jim Williams (c) | Back row | Australia |
| Player | Position | Union |
| Frank Murphy | Scrum-half | Ireland |
| Mike Prendergast | Scrum-half | Ireland |
| Eoin Reddan | Scrum-half | Ireland |
| Peter Stringer | Scrum-half | Ireland |
| Paul Burke | Fly-half | Ireland |
| Jeremy Manning | Fly-half | Ireland |
| Ronan O'Gara | Fly-half | Ireland |
| Paul Devlin | Centre | Ireland |
| Rob Henderson | Centre | Ireland |
| Jason Holland | Centre | Ireland |
| Keith Matthews | Centre | Ireland |
| Mike Mullins | Centre | Ireland |
| Barry Murphy | Centre | Ireland |
| Anthony Horgan | Wing | Ireland |
| John Kelly | Wing | Ireland |
| Mossy Lawler | Wing | Ireland |
| Martin McPhail | Wing | Ireland |
| James Storey | Wing | Ireland |
| Brian Tuohy | Wing | Ireland |
| Christian Cullen | Fullback | New Zealand |
| Shaun Payne* | Fullback | South Africa |

## Pre-season

* 17 August 2004
| Munster | 5–12 | London Irish |
| | Report | |
* Thomond Park Attendance: 5,000
* 23 August 2004
| Munster | 11–10 | Newcastle Falcons |
| | Report | |
* Thomond Park

## 2004–05 Celtic League

| | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | Try bonus | Losing bonus | Pts |
| 1 | Neath-Swansea Ospreys | 20 | 16 | 1 | 3 | 508 | 267 | +241 | 53 | 27 | 7 | 3 | 76 |
| 2 | Munster | 20 | 15 | 1 | 4 | 470 | 331 | +139 | 54 | 33 | 6 | 1 | 69 |
| 3 | Leinster | 20 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 455 | 350 | +105 | 46 | 32 | 4 | 3 | 57 |
| 4 | Newport Gwent Dragons | 20 | 11 | 0 | 9 | 381 | 436 | −55 | 39 | 43 | 4 | 2 | 50 |
| 5 | Llanelli Scarlets | 20 | 9 | 0 | 11 | 402 | 446 | −44 | 48 | 42 | 7 | 3 | 46 |
| 6 | Glasgow Warriors | 20 | 8 | 1 | 11 | 465 | 466 | −1 | 40 | 58 | 4 | 7 | 45 |
| 7 | Edinburgh | 20 | 9 | 0 | 11 | 409 | 407 | +2 | 47 | 40 | 4 | 4 | 44 |
| 8 | Ulster | 20 | 9 | 0 | 11 | 363 | 387 | −24 | 37 | 34 | 2 | 5 | 43 |
| 9 | Cardiff Blues | 20 | 8 | 1 | 11 | 350 | 404 | −54 | 35 | 41 | 2 | 4 | 40 |
| 10 | Connacht | 20 | 7 | 1 | 12 | 317 | 407 | −90 | 32 | 46 | 2 | 5 | 37 |
| 11 | Borders | 20 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 337 | 556 | −219 | 31 | 66 | 2 | 4 | 18 |
| 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) ||||||||||||||
| Source: RaboDirect PRO12 Archived 22 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine ||||||||||||||
* 3 September 2004 19:05
| Neath-Swansea Ospreys | 34–17 | Munster |
| | Report | |
* St. Helen's Attendance: 4,052
* 11 September 2004 20:05
| Munster | 27–27 | Connacht |
| | Report | |
* Musgrave Park Attendance: 4,200
* 18 September 2004 17:15
| Leinster | 17–15 | Munster |
| | Report | |
* Donnybrook Attendance: 6,500 Referee: Hugh Watkins
* 3 October 2004 17:15
| Munster | 19–13 | Llanelli Scarlets |
| | Report | |
* Thomond Park Attendance: 9,000
* 9 October 2004 19:30
| Glasgow | 26–28 | Munster |
| | Report | |
* Hughenden Attendance: 2,625
* 16 October 2004 17:15
| Munster | 49–18 | Cardiff Blues |
| | Report | |
* Thomond Park Attendance: 7,500 Referee: David Changleng
* 6 November 2004
| Ulster | 3–24 | Munster |
| | Report | |
* Ravenhill Attendance: 6,402
* 13 November 2004 20:05
| Munster | 25–16 | Newport Gwent Dragons |
| | Report | |
* Musgrave Park Attendance: 3,850
* 19 November 2004 18:45
| Munster | 45–8 | The Borders |
| | Report | |
* Musgrave Park Attendance: 4,250
* 26 November 2004 19:30
| Edinburgh | 0–11 | Munster |
| | Report | |
* Murrayfield Attendance: 2,496
* 18 December 2004 20:05
| Munster | 13–9 | Neath-Swansea Ospreys |
| | Report | |
* Musgrave Park Attendance: 3,500
* 27 December 2004 19:35
| Connacht | 0–3 | Munster |
| | Report | |
* Galway Sportsgrounds Attendance: 4,500
* 1 January 2005 17:30
| Munster | 19–13 | Leinster |
| | Report | |
* Musgrave Park Attendance: 8,000 Referee: Alan Lewis
* 29 January 2005 17:30
| Llanelli Scarlets | 32–17 | Munster |
| | Report | |
* Stradey Park Attendance: 7,530 Referee: Andy Ireland
* 20 February 2005 17:00
| Munster | 25–19 | Glasgow |
| | Report | |
* Thomond Park Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Jonathan Kaplan
* 5 March 2005 19:30
| Cardiff Blues | 30–20 | Munster |
| | Report | |
* Cardiff Arms Park Attendance: 3,350 Referee: Mike Hall
* 18 March 2005 19:00
| Munster | 21–15 | Ulster |
| | Report | |
* Musgrave Park Attendance: 5,870 Referee: Andy Ireland
* 25 March 2005 19:05
| Newport Gwent Dragons | 8–24 | Munster |
| | Report | |
* Rodney Parade Attendance: 5,902 Referee: Rob Dickson
* 10 April 2005 16:45
| Borders | 23–38 | Munster |
| | Report | |
* Netherdale Attendance: 1,646 Referee: Phil Fear
* 16 April 2005 19:30
| Munster | 30–20 | Edinburgh |
| | Report | |
* Thomond Park Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Nigel Williams

## 2004–05 Celtic Cup
### Quarter-final

* 30 April 2005 19:30
| Munster | 24–14 | Edinburgh |
| | Report | |
* Thomond Park Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Nigel Owens

### Semi-final

* 8 May 2005 17:30
| Leinster | 17–23 | Munster |
| | Report | |
* Lansdowne Road Attendance: 13,500 Referee: Nigel Whitehouse

### Final

* 14 May 2005 17:30
| Munster | 27–16 | Llanelli Scarlets |
| | Report | |
* Lansdowne Road Attendance: 11,500 Referee: Joël Jutge

## 2004–05 Heineken Cup
### Pool 4

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
| Munster (5) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 4 | 8 | 121 | 74 | 47 | 1 | 1 | 22 |
| Castres | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 13 | 3 | 157 | 121 | 36 | 2 | 0 | 16 |
| Neath-Swansea Ospreys | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 135 | 115 | 20 | 1 | 1 | 14 |
| NEC Harlequins | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 19 | −12 | 81 | 184 | −103 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
* 23 October 2004 17:15
| Munster | 15–9 | NEC Harlequins |
| | Report | |
* Thomond Park Attendance: 13,485 Referee: Hugh Watkins
* 31 October 2004 15:00
| Neath-Swansea Ospreys | 18–20 | Munster |
| | Report | |
* The Gnoll Attendance: 10,280 Referee: Joël Jutge
* 3 December 2004 20:30
| Castres | 19–12 | Munster |
| | Report | |
* Stade Pierre-Antoine Attendance: 9,500 Referee: Nigel Whitehouse
* 11 December 2004 17:15
| Munster | 36–8 | Castres |
| | Report | |
* Thomond Park Attendance: 13,200 Referee: Roy Maybank
* 8 January 2005 17:15
| Munster | 20–10 | Neath-Swansea Ospreys |
| | Report | |
* Thomond Park Attendance: 13,200 Referee: Chris White
* 15 January 2005 13:00
| NEC Harlequins | 10–18 | Munster |
| | Report | |
* Twickenham Attendance: 33,383 Referee: Joël Jutge

### Quarter-final

* 3 April 2005 16:00
| Biarritz | 19–10 | Munster |
| | Report | |
* Anoeta Stadium Attendance: 32,000 Referee: Chris White