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2007–08 Celtic League
A maul between Edinburgh Rugby and Munster
Countries	Ireland  Scotland  Wales
Champions	Leinster (2nd title)
Runners-up	Cardiff Blues
Matches played	90
Attendance	609,015 (average 6,767 per match)
Tries scored	341 (average 3.8 per match)
Top point scorer	Dan Parks (Glasgow) (159 points)
Top try scorer	Tom James (Cardiff Blues) (9 tries)
Official website
www.rabodirectpro12.com
← 2006–072008–09 →

The 2007–08 Celtic League (known as the 2007–08 Magners League for sponsorship reasons) was the seventh Celtic League season and the second with Magners as title sponsor. The season began on 31 August 2007 and finished on the weekend beginning 10 May 2008. Some disruption to fixtures occurred as a result of the 2007 Rugby World Cup, which took place during September and October 2007.

The teams competing were the same as the previous season with one exception; only two Scottish teams participated, as the Scottish Rugby Union scrapped the Border Reivers region at the end of the 2006–07 season. As in previous seasons, the league was played on a home and away basis, with teams earning four points for a win, and a bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match. The losing team may also earn a bonus point if they lose by seven points or less. The losing bonus point system is intended to ensure that both teams compete fully in all matches.

The ten teams competing were the four Irish provinces: Munster, Leinster, Connacht and Ulster; two Scottish regions: Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors; and four Welsh regions: Llanelli Scarlets, Cardiff Blues, Ospreys and Newport Gwent Dragons.

Teams

ConnachtLeinsterMunsterUlsterEdinburghGlasgow WarriorsBluesDragonsOspreysScarletsclass=notpageimage| Location of 2007–08 Celtic League teams in Great Britain and Ireland.

Winners; 2nd–4th place; Other teams.

Team	Stadium	Capacity	City, Area
Cardiff Blues	Cardiff Arms Park	12,500	Cardiff, Wales
Connacht	Galway Sportsgrounds	5,500	Galway, Republic of Ireland
Edinburgh	Murrayfield Stadium	12,464	Edinburgh, Scotland
Glasgow Warriors	Firhill Stadium	10,887	Glasgow, Scotland
Leinster	RDS Arena	18,500	Dublin, Republic of Ireland
Llanelli Scarlets	Stradey Park	10,800	Llanelli, Wales
Munster	Musgrave Park	8,300	Cork, Republic of Ireland
Newport Gwent Dragons	Rodney Parade	12,000	Newport, Wales
Ospreys	Liberty Stadium	20,500	Swansea, Wales
Ulster	Ravenhill	12,800	Belfast, Northern Ireland

Pre-season

Following the end of the 2006–07 Celtic League season, a number of controversial events occurred in Celtic rugby. Mike Phillips moved from the Cardiff Blues to the Ospreys, in a move that would earn him £180,000 a year. The Border Reivers was officially closed as a rugby club, and Edinburgh Rugby were almost expelled from the competition, because of a row with the Scottish Rugby Union.

As a result of increased revenue from governing bodies and TV rights, most clubs were able to expand their squads with the signing of several new players.

Table

Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	Try bonus	Losing bonus	Pts
Leinster	18	13	1	4	428	283	+145	44	30	4	3	61
Cardiff Blues	18	12	0	6	395	315	+80	48	31	6	2	56
Munster	18	10	1	7	330	258	+72	33	26	2	4	48
Edinburgh	18	9	3	6	313	285	+28	35	29	3	3	48
Glasgow Warriors	18	10	1	7	340	349	−9	31	38	1	3	46
Llanelli Scarlets	18	7	0	11	403	362	+41	45	38	6	5	39
Ospreys	18	6	1	11	321	255	+66	24	24	2	9	37
Newport Gwent Dragons	18	7	1	10	282	394	−112	31	44	1	3	34
Ulster	18	6	1	11	278	407	−129	33	41	2	1	29
Connacht	18	5	1	12	214	396	−182	16	39	0	2	24
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

Results

A provisional fixture list was released on 23 July 2007, with the opening game featuring Cardiff Blues and the Ospreys.

Welsh Round 1

• All-Welsh Round 5 matches played early to allow Welsh teams to play in the Anglo-Welsh Cup.

Cardiff Blues	17–15	Ospreys
	Report

Llanelli Scarlets	23–30	Newport Gwent Dragons
	Report

Welsh Round 2

• All-Welsh Round 6 matches played early to allow Welsh teams to play in the Anglo-Welsh Cup.

Newport Gwent Dragons	13–40	Cardiff Blues
	Report

Ospreys	9–14	Llanelli Scarlets
	Report

Round 1

Connacht	22–7	Newport Gwent Dragons
	Report

Cardiff Blues	32–16	Glasgow Warriors
	Report

Ulster	17–16	Ospreys
	Report

Leinster	23–8	Edinburgh
	Report

Munster	26–16	Llanelli Scarlets
	Report

Round 2

Newport Gwent Dragons	16–26	Munster
	Report

Llanelli Scarlets	34–11	Connacht
	Report

Cardiff Blues	19–30	Leinster
	Report

Edinburgh	24–10	Ulster
	Report

Ospreys	37–23	Glasgow Warriors
	Report

Round 3

Leinster	23–52	Llanelli Scarlets
	Report

Edinburgh	13–13	Ospreys
	Report

Glasgow Warriors	16–15	Connacht
	Report

Munster	17–19	Cardiff Blues
	Report

Newport Gwent Dragons	31–11	Ulster
	Report

Round 4

Llanelli Scarlets	32–8	Ulster
	Report

Cardiff Blues	30–16	Connacht
	Report

Edinburgh	13–19	Newport Gwent Dragons
	Report

Glasgow Warriors	21–17	Leinster
	Report

Ospreys	16–3	Munster
	Report

Round 5

Connacht	14–14	Edinburgh
	Report

Glasgow Warriors	11–11	Munster
	Report

Ulster	16–16	Leinster
	Report

Round 6

Glasgow Warriors	25–6	Ulster
	Report

Leinster	29–9	Connacht
	Report

Munster	19–16	Edinburgh
	Report

Round 7

Ospreys	19–26	Leinster
	Report

Connacht	13–30	Ulster
	Report

Glasgow Warriors	17–5	Cardiff Blues
	Report

Munster	45–19	Newport Gwent Dragons
	Report

Edinburgh	27–17	Llanelli Scarlets
	Report

Round 8

Connacht	10–6	Glasgow Warriors
	Report

Munster	3–10	Leinster
	Report

Ulster	14–20	Edinburgh
	Report

Round 9

Cardiff Blues	11–6	Newport Gwent Dragons
	Report

Leinster	29–0	Ulster
	Report

Munster	17–0	Connacht
	Report

Llanelli Scarlets	17–12	Ospreys
	Report

1872 Cup 1st round

Edinburgh	35–31	Glasgow Warriors
	Report

Welsh Round 3

• All-Welsh Round 8 matches rescheduled to allow Welsh teams to play in the Anglo-Welsh Cup.

Ospreys	22–3	Cardiff Blues
	Report

Newport Gwent Dragons	15–13	Llanelli Scarlets
	Report

Round 10

Connacht	20–18	Llanelli Scarlets
	Report

Cardiff Blues	10–11	Edinburgh
	Report

Glasgow Warriors	16–18	Newport Gwent Dragons
	Report

Leinster	26–15	Ospreys
	Report

Round 11

Llanelli Scarlets	30–7	Glasgow Warriors
	Report

Edinburgh	7–11	Munster
	Report

Ulster	38–13	Newport Gwent Dragons
	Report

Ospreys	37–7	Connacht
	Report

Leinster	24–17	Cardiff Blues
	Report

Round 12

Newport Gwent Dragons	10–10	Edinburgh
	Report

Connacht	10–16	Leinster
	Report

Glasgow Warriors	9–6	Ospreys
	Report

Ulster	20–8	Llanelli Scarlets
	Report

Cardiff Blues	25–22	Munster
	Report

Round 13

Llanelli Scarlets	35–17	Cardiff Blues
	Report

Edinburgh	38–8	Connacht
	Report

Leinster	34–18	Glasgow Warriors
	Report

Munster	42–6	Ulster
	Report

Round 14

Ospreys	32–7	Ulster
	Report

Connacht	5–16	Munster
	Report

Edinburgh	0–20	Cardiff Blues
	Report

Llanelli Scarlets	10–24	Leinster
	Report

Newport Gwent Dragons	14–20	Glasgow Warriors
	Report

Round 15

Ulster	18–6	Connacht
	Report

Cardiff Blues	35–26	Llanelli Scarlets
	Report

Leinster	21–12	Munster
	Report

1872 Cup 2nd round

Glasgow Warriors	23–14	Edinburgh
	Report

Round 16

Newport Gwent Dragons	11–13	Connacht
	Report

Edinburgh	15–13	Leinster
	Report

Glasgow Warriors	25–23	Llanelli Scarlets
	Report

Cardiff Blues	30–17	Ulster
	Report

Munster	9–8	Ospreys
	Report

Rearranged fixtures

• Round 13 match postponed from 22 March because of the Ospreys' participation in the Anglo-Welsh Cup semi-final

Ospreys	16–3	Newport Gwent Dragons
	Report

• Round 10 match postponed from 4 January because of adverse weather conditions at Ravenhill.

Ulster	19–9	Munster
	Report

Round 17

Connacht	11–39	Cardiff Blues
	Report

Ospreys	18–19	Edinburgh
	Report

Llanelli Scarlets	23–24	Munster
	Report

Ulster	24–35	Glasgow Warriors
	Report

Leinster	41–8	Newport Gwent Dragons
	Report

Rearranged fixture

• Round 15 match postponed from 12 April because of the Ospreys' participation in the Anglo-Welsh Cup final.

Newport Gwent Dragons	18–10	Ospreys
	Report

Round 18

Connacht	24–20	Ospreys
	Report

Newport Gwent Dragons	31–26	Leinster
	Report

Ulster	17–26	Cardiff Blues
	Report

Munster	18–21	Glasgow Warriors
	Report

Llanelli Scarlets	12–29	Edinburgh
	Report

Leading scorers

Note: Flags to the left of player names indicate national team as has been defined under IRB eligibility rules, or primary nationality for players who have not yet earned international senior caps. Players may hold one or more non-IRB nationalities.

Top points scorers Rank Player Club Points 1 Dan Parks Glasgow Warriors 159 2 Paul Warwick Munster 130 3 Felipe Contepomi Leinster 126 4 Shaun Connor Ospreys 116 5 Rhys Priestland Llanelli Scarlets 107

Top try scorers Rank Player Club Tries 1 Tom James Cardiff Blues 9 2 Regan King Llanelli Scarlets 7 Jamie Roberts Cardiff Blues 4 Luke Fitzgerald Leinster 6 Shane Horgan Leinster

Broadcast rights

Television rights for the league were split between three broadcasters: BBC Wales, S4C and Setanta Sports. BBC Wales and S4C continued to cover the Celtic League until the end of the 2009–10 season.

Notes

1. Although Murrayfield's full capacity is 67,800, only the lower section of the West Stand, with a capacity of 12,464, is generally opened for Edinburgh fixtures.

References

1. ^ "Leading Points-Scorers". RaboDirect PRO12. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
2. ^ "Leading Try-Scorers". RaboDirect PRO12. Archived from the original on 2 November 2013. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
3. "Scottish union axes Borders team". BBC. 27 March 2007. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
4. "BBC extends Welsh rugby contract". BBC Sport. 30 August 2006. Retrieved 25 October 2013.

• 2007–08 Celtic League
• United Rugby Championship seasons
• 2007–08 in European rugby union leagues
• 2007–08 in Irish rugby union
• 2007–08 in Welsh rugby union
• 2007–08 in Scottish rugby union