2020 Pro14 Grand Final

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2020 Pro14 Grand Final
Event2019–20 Pro14
Date12 September 2020
VenueAviva Stadium, Dublin
Man of the MatchIreland Josh van der Flier
RefereeAndrew Brace (IRFU)
Attendance0[a]
2019
2021

The 2020 Pro14 Grand Final was the final match of the 2019–20 Pro14 season. The 2019–20 season was the sixth with Guinness as the title sponsor, the eleventh with a grand final and the third season with 14 teams, following the admission of two Italian teams. The match was planned to be held at Cardiff City Stadium,[1] however, on 19 March 2020, Celtic Rugby DAC cancelled the event due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2][3] The re-arranged match took place on 12 September 2020 at the Aviva Stadium between defending champions Leinster and Ulster.[4][5] Leinster won the match 27–5 to defend their title and complete a hat-trick of title wins.[6]

Route to the final

The top two sides from each of the two conferences met in the semi-finals, with the higher placed team having home advantage. Teams placed second and third in opposite conferences would have met in the two quarter-finals, but this was scrapped this year.[3] The play-offs took place immediately following the final round of derby fixtures.

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
4 September 2020
 
 
Ireland Leinster (A1)13
 
12 September 2020
 
Ireland Munster (B2)3
 
Ireland Leinster27
 
5 September 2020
 
Ireland Ulster5
 
Scotland Edinburgh (B1)19
 
 
Ireland Ulster (A2)22
 

Semi-finals

4 September 2020
19:35
Leinster Ireland13–3Ireland Munster
Try: R. Kelleher 27' c
Con: Sexton (1/1) 28'
Pen: Sexton (2/3) 40', 67'
ReportPen: Hanrahan (1/3) 5'
Aviva Stadium
Attendance: 0[a]
Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU)
5 September 2020
19:35
Andrew 75' c
Con: Burns (1/2) 55'
Madigan (1/1) 76'
Pen: Madigan (1/1) 80'
Murrayfield Stadium
Attendance: 0[a]
Referee: Frank Murphy (IRFU)

Pre-match

The match was televised free-to-air by TG4 in the Republic of Ireland, and on BBC in Northern Ireland. It was also shown on Eir Sport.[7]

Final

Summary

Details

12 September 2020
19:35
Leinster Ireland27–5Ireland Ulster
Try: Lowe 12' c
Henshaw 45' c
Doris 71' c
Con: R. Byrne (2/2) 14', 47'
Sexton (1/1) 72'
Pen: R. Byrne (2/2) 26', 44'
ReportTry: Hume 3' m
Aviva Stadium
Attendance: 0[a]
Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU)
Leinster
Ulster
FB 15 Ireland Jordan Larmour
RW 14 Ireland Hugo Keenan
OC 13 Ireland Garry Ringrose (c) downward-facing red arrow 67'
IC 12 Ireland Robbie Henshaw
LW 11 Ireland James Lowe
FH 10 Ireland Ross Byrne downward-facing red arrow 59'
SH 9 Ireland Jamison Gibson-Park downward-facing red arrow 59'
N8 8 Ireland Jack Conan
OF 7 Ireland Josh van der Flier downward-facing red arrow 72'
BF 6 Ireland Caelan Doris
RL 5 Ireland James Ryan downward-facing red arrow 62'
LL 4 Ireland Devin Toner
TP 3 Ireland Andrew Porter downward-facing red arrow 62'
HK 2 Ireland Rónan Kelleher downward-facing red arrow 59'
LP 1 Ireland Cian Healy downward-facing red arrow 52'
Substitutions:
HK 16 Ireland James Tracy upward-facing green arrow 59'
PR 17 Ireland Ed Byrne upward-facing green arrow 52'
PR 18 Ireland Michael Bent upward-facing green arrow 62'
LK 19 Australia Scott Fardy upward-facing green arrow 62'
FL 20 Ireland Will Connors upward-facing green arrow 72'
SH 21 Ireland Luke McGrath upward-facing green arrow 59'
FH 22 Ireland Johnny Sexton upward-facing green arrow 59'
CE 23 Ireland Rory O'Loughlin upward-facing green arrow 67'
Coach:
Ireland Leo Cullen
FB 15 Ireland Michael Lowry
RW 14 Ireland Rob Lyttle
OC 13 Ireland James Hume
IC 12 Ireland Stuart McCloskey
LW 11 Ireland Jacob Stockdale
FH 10 Ireland Billy Burns downward-facing red arrow 54'
SH 9 New Zealand Alby Mathewson downward-facing red arrow 47'
N8 8 South Africa Marcell Coetzee downward-facing red arrow 47'
OF 7 Ireland Sean Reidy
BF 6 Ireland Matty Rea downward-facing red arrow 55'
RL 5 Ireland Iain Henderson (c) downward-facing red arrow 47'
LL 4 Ireland Alan O'Connor
TP 3 Ireland Tom O'Toole downward-facing red arrow 55'
HK 2 Ireland Rob Herring downward-facing red arrow 20' upward-facing green arrow 34' downward-facing red arrow 72'
LP 1 Ireland Eric O'Sullivan downward-facing red arrow 47'
Substitutions:
HK 16
John Andrew
upward-facing green arrow 20' downward-facing red arrow 34' upward-facing green arrow 72'
PR 17 Ireland Jack McGrath upward-facing green arrow 47'
PR 18 Ireland Marty Moore upward-facing green arrow 55'
LK 19 Australia Sam Carter upward-facing green arrow 47'
BR 20 Ireland Jordi Murphy upward-facing green arrow 55'
SH 21 Ireland John Cooney upward-facing green arrow 47'
FH 22 Ireland Ian Madigan upward-facing green arrow 54'
BR 23 Ireland Nick Timoney upward-facing green arrow 47'
Coach:
England Dan McFarland

Man of the Match:
Ireland Josh van der Flier

Assistant referees:
George Clancy (IRFU)
Frank Murphy (IRFU)
Television match official:
Brian MacNiece (IRFU)

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d This game was played behind closed doors due to COVID-19 restrictions.

References

  1. ^ "Warburton: Cardiff Will Be 'Electric' For 2020 Guinness PRO14 Final". GuinnessPro14. 22 August 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  2. ^ "Coronavirus: Pro14 final cancelled due to coronavirus". BBC Sport. 19 March 2020. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Pro14 to return in August with derbies". BBC Sport. 18 June 2020. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  4. ^ "Pro14 semi-final: Leinster 13-3 Munster - reigning champions book final place". BBC Sport. 4 September 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  5. ^ "Edinburgh 19-22 Ulster: Richard Cockerill says hosts 'got what we deserved'". BBC Sport. 5 September 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  6. ^ "Leinster recover from slow start to land their third PRO14 title in a row". The42. 12 September 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  7. ^ "Leinster v Ulster: Kick-off time, TV details, team news and more". The Irish Times. 10 September 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.