The 2009–10 Celtic League Grand Final was the final match of the 2009–10 Celtic League season. The 2009–10 season was the fourth sponsored by Magners and was the first ever Celtic League Grand Final. The final was won by the Ospreys who defeated Leinster by 17–12 at the RDS Arena to win their third Celtic League title, the win ended Leinster's 20-month unbeaten home league record.
Route to the final
2009–10 Final Table {| class="wikitable" |+ Key to colours |- |bgcolor=#d8ffeb| | Top four teams advance to playoffs.
TeamPldWDLPFPAPDTFTATry bonusLosing bonusPts1 Leinster 18 13 0 5 359 295 +64 27 29 1 2 55 2 Ospreys 18 11 1 6 384 298 +86 37 26 3 3 523 Glasgow Warriors 18 11 2 5 390 321 +69 31 24 2 1 514 Munster 18 9 0 9 319 282 +37 33 20 3 6 455 Cardiff Blues 18 10 0 8 349 315 +34 33 28 2 2 446 Edinburgh 18 8 0 10 385 391 −6 40 40 4 5 417 Newport Gwent Dragons 18 8 1 9 333 378 −45 32 37 3 2 398 Ulster 18 7 1 10 357 370 −13 39 35 4 2 369 Scarlets 18 5 0 13 361 382 −21 35 35 1 8 2910 Connacht 18 5 1 12 254 459 −205 20 53 0 4 26
2010 Playoffs
Semi-finals
Match
Summary First-half Ospreys tries from Tommy Bowe after 20 minutes and Lee Byrne after 35 minutes which were both converted put the Ospreys 14–3 up at half time, with the Leinster score coming from a Johnny Sexton penalty after 23 minutes. A further penalty from Sexton brought the score to 14–6 before Dan Biggar kicked over a penalty for the Ospreys after 48 minutes. Two more penalties from Sexton in the 62nd and 71st minutes made the score 17–12, but that was enough for the Ospreys to hold and become the first side to win the title for the third time.
Details
15 Rob Kearney 14 Shane Horgan 13 Brian O'Driscoll 12 Gordon D'Arcy 11 Isa Nacewa 10 Johnny Sexton 9 Eoin Reddan 8 Jamie Heaslip 7 Shane Jennings (c) 6 Kevin McLaughlin 5 Malcolm O'Kelly 4 Nathan Hines 3 CJ van der Linde 2 John Fogarty 1 Stan WrightReplacements: 16 Richardt Strauss 17 Cian Healy 18 Trevor Hogan 19 Stephen Keogh 20 Paul O'Donohoe 21 Fergus McFadden 22 Girvan DempseyCoach: Michael Ceika 15 Lee Byrne 14 Tommy Bowe 13 Andrew Bishop 12 James Hook 11 Shane Williams 10 Dan Biggar 9 Mike Phillips 8 Ryan Jones (c) 7 Marty Holah 6 Jerry Collins 5 Jonathan Thomas 4 Alun Wyn Jones 3 Adam Rhys Jones 2 Huw Bennett 1 Paul JamesReplacements: 16 Ed Shervington 17 Ryan Bevington 18 Ian Gough 19 Filo Tiatia 20 Jamie Nutbrown 21 Gareth Owen 22 Nikki WalkerCoach: Scott Johnson
Reaction Ospreys head coach Sean Holley reacted to the win saying "it's a special night, I wouldn't say it was our best performance, but certainly one of our most courageous and determined." "Leinster are pretty outstanding in defence, and it's the end of a long, hard season, I'm not that surprised (we cut through them), because we have some great talent." Departing Leinster coach Michael Cheika reacted to the loss by saying "Ospreys deserved the win but we're disappointed with ourselves. We didn't play well, we tried to fight our way back into the game, but we made too many mistakes. We probably just weren't accurate in the defensive section or where we needed to be in the team."
References
External links 2010 Celtic League Grand Final Coverage at ESPN