2021 Pro14 Grand Final

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2021 Pro14 Grand Final
Event2020–21 Pro14
Date27 March 2021
VenueRDS Arena, Dublin
Man of the MatchJack Conan
RefereeMike Adamson (SRU)
Attendance0[a]
2020
2022

The 2021 Pro14 Grand Final was the final rugby match of the 2020–21 Pro14 season. The 2020–21 season was the seventh with Guinness as the title sponsor and the twelfth with a grand final. Leinster won the match 16–6 to win their fourth successive league title and their eighth overall.[1]

Route to the final

In a change from previous seasons, the 2020–21 Pro14 regular season was shortened to 16 rounds and, forgoing the usual play-offs, the teams finishing in the first place of each conference will advance straight to the final. These changes were made due to the creation of the Rainbow Cup, which will see four South African Super Rugby teams (the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers) join the twelve remaining Pro14 teams in a new tournament.[2]

Irish province Munster became the first team to qualify for the final, after their 20–17 win against Connacht in round 14 gave them an unassailable 12 point lead at the top of conference B with two rounds remaining.[3] Defending champions Leinster secured top spot in conference A with a 38–19 away win against Ulster, advancing to their fourth straight league final.[4]

Pre-match

The match was televised free-to-air by TG4 in the Republic of Ireland. It was also shown on Eir Sport and on Premier Sports in the UK. It was shown on ESPN+ in the United States.[citation needed]

Final

Summary

In the first half, Ross Byrne kicked two penalties to put Leinster into a 6–0 lead after 11 minutes, before Joey Carbery then kicked two penalties for Munster to make the score 6–6 at half-time.[5] The only try of the match came in the 46th minute from Leinster's Jack Conan when he charged for the line after a scrum and got over on the third attempt. Ross Byrne converted the try and added a third penalty in the 69th minute to make the final score 16–6, it was the sixth win in a row for Leinster against Munster. [6]

Details

27 March 2021
17:00
Leinster Ireland16–6Ireland Munster
Try: Conan 46' c
Con: R. Byrne (1/1) 47'
Pen: R. Byrne (3/4) 3', 11', 68'
ReportPen: Carbery (2/3) 13', 40'+1
RDS
Attendance: 0[a]
Referee: Mike Adamson (SRU)
FB 15 Ireland Hugo Keenan
RW 14 Ireland Jordan Larmour
OC 13 Ireland Rory O'Loughlin
IC 12 Ireland Robbie Henshaw
LW 11 Ireland Dave Kearney
FH 10 Ireland Ross Byrne downward-facing red arrow 59' upward-facing green arrow 64'
SH 9 Ireland Luke McGrath (c) downward-facing red arrow 75'
N8 8 Ireland Jack Conan
OF 7 Ireland Josh van der Flier
BF 6 Ireland Rhys Ruddock downward-facing red arrow 73'
RL 5 Australia Scott Fardy downward-facing red arrow 59'
LL 4 Ireland Devin Toner
TP 3 Ireland Andrew Porter downward-facing red arrow 52'
HK 2 Ireland Rónan Kelleher downward-facing red arrow 69'
LP 1 Ireland Cian Healy upward-facing green arrow 52'
Substitutions:
HK 16 Ireland James Tracy upward-facing green arrow 69'
PR 17 Ireland Ed Byrne upward-facing green arrow 52'
PR 18 Ireland Tadhg Furlong upward-facing green arrow 52'
LK 19 Ireland Ross Molony upward-facing green arrow 73'
LK 20 Ireland Ryan Baird upward-facing green arrow 59'
SH 21 Ireland Jamison Gibson-Park upward-facing green arrow 75'
FH 22 Ireland Johnny Sexton upward-facing green arrow 59' downward-facing red arrow 64'
WG 23 Ireland James Lowe
Coach:
Ireland Leo Cullen
FB 15 Ireland Mike Haley
RW 14 Ireland Andrew Conway
OC 13 Ireland Chris Farrell
IC 12 South Africa Damian de Allende downward-facing red arrow 73'
LW 11 Ireland Keith Earls
FH 10 Ireland Joey Carbery downward-facing red arrow 69'
SH 9 Ireland Conor Murray downward-facing red arrow 69'
N8 8 Ireland CJ Stander
OF 7 Ireland Peter O'Mahony (c) downward-facing red arrow 48'
BF 6 Ireland Gavin Coombes
RL 5 Ireland Tadhg Beirne
LL 4 Ireland Jean Kleyn downward-facing red arrow 69'
TP 3 Ireland John Ryan downward-facing red arrow 51'
HK 2 Ireland Niall Scannell downward-facing red arrow 52'
LP 1 Ireland James Cronin downward-facing red arrow 51'
Substitutions:
HK 16 Ireland Kevin O'Byrne upward-facing green arrow 52'
PR 17 Ireland Dave Kilcoyne upward-facing green arrow 51'
PR 18 Ireland Stephen Archer upward-facing green arrow 51'
LK 19 Ireland Billy Holland upward-facing green arrow 69'
BR 20 Ireland Jack O'Donoghue upward-facing green arrow 48'
SH 21 Ireland Craig Casey upward-facing green arrow 69'
FH 22 Ireland JJ Hanrahan upward-facing green arrow 69'
CE 23 Ireland Rory Scannell upward-facing green arrow 73'
Coach:
South Africa Johann van Graan

Man of the Match:
Ireland Jack Conan

Assistant referees:
Chris Busby (IRFU)
Seán Gallagher (IRFU)
Television match official:
Joy Neville (IRFU)

Notes

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

References

  1. ^ "Leinster 16-6 Munster: Holders secure fourth straight Pro14 title by seeing off Irish rivals". BBC Sport. 27 March 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  2. ^ "South African sides to join 'Rainbow Cup' after Pro14 concludes in March". The42. 23 December 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  3. ^ "Munster into final after victory over Connacht". GuinnessPro14. 5 March 2021. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  4. ^ "Ulster 19-38 Leinster: Reigning Pro14 champions book return to final for fourth straight year". BBC Sport. 6 March 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  5. ^ "Leinster 16-6 Munster: as it happened". The 42. 27 March 2021. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  6. ^ "Pro14 final: Leinster 16-6 Munster recap". RTE Sport. 27 March 2021. Retrieved 31 March 2021.