- Munster are appearing in their eighth Heineken Cup semi-final while Leicester Tigers are in the last four for the sixth time and Leinster the fourth occasion.
- Munster beat Leinster 30-6 in their only previous meeting in the Heineken Cup – in the 2006 semi-final at Lansdowne Road. Niall Ronan and Kieran Lewis were both unused Leinster replacements in that game. They both now play for Munster.
- Three Munster players – Ronan O’Gara, John Hayes and Donncha O’Callaghan – have appeared in a record seven semi-finals.
- Munster’s John Hayes, Ronan O’Gara, Peter Stringer and David Wallace are aiming to reach their fifth Heineken Cup final.
- Munster prop John Hayes will become the leading cap holder in the Heineken Cup if he plays against Leinster. He equalled clubmate Anthony Foley’s tournament record of 86 appearances in the quarter-finals and will go on to 87 in the semi-final. Since his Heineken Cup debut for Munster against Petrarca on 19 September, 1998, he has missed only two of Munster’s European matches. They were the first game of the 2001/02 campaign at home to Castres Olympique and the fifth game that season against Harlequins.
- Munster will join Toulouse on 101 Heineken Cup games played – and overtake them if they reach the final.
- The only Super 12/14 and Heineken Cup winners to date have been Kafer and Doug Howlett (Super 12 with the Blues in 2005 and Heineken Cup with Munster in 2008).
- Munster are the No1 ranked team in Europe and will play Leinster ranked fourth, Leicester Tigers are the No 2 ranked side and face Cardiff Blues ranked eighth.
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by Leinster Lion, on 05.03.09 @ 2:12 am
The arrogance shown before this game was outrageous and disrespectful towards the whole of Leinster. The articles written in the various newspapers and blogs only motivated us more. We gave you an absolute beating yesterday. It was a trouncing. Men against boys.We are as passionate about our rugby as you are which made yesterday all the more satisfying. Hard luck. A VERY happy Leinster fan