2005-06 was Leinster's eleventh season under professionalism, and their first season under head coach Michael Cheika.
Felipe Contepomi was player of the season. In the 2006 IRUPA awards, Shane Horgan won the try of the season award.Gavin Mairs, "Trimble and Best land IRUPA awards", Belfast Telegraph, 4 May 2006
Player transfers
Players in Adam Byrnes from Eastern Suburbs"Aussie lock Byrnes signs for Leinster", Irish Independent, 30 June 2005 Will Green from Wasps"Green lends weight to Leinster challenge", Irish Times, 25 August 2005 Stephen Grissing Jonny Hepworth from Castleford Tigers Eoghan Hickey Bernard Jackman from Connacht Cameron Jowitt Rob Kearney Ronan McCormack from UlsterDes Berry, "Whatever happened to the likely lads of '95?", Irish Independent, 27 November 2005 Johnny Sexton Devin Toner Bryce Williams from Auckland"Leinster sign Kiwi lock Williams", BBC Sport, 21 September 2005
Players out Peter Coyle Ricky Nebbett to Harlequins"Mehrtens confirms Harlequins move", BBC Sport, 17 June 2005 Anto O’Donnell Niall Treston Shane Byrne to Saracens"Saracens sign Byrne", The Guardian, 6 July 2005 Gavin Hickie to London Irish Leo Cullen to Leicester Tigers"Ireland's Cullen signs for Tigers", BBC Sport, 20 May 2005 Dave Gannon to Connacht"Connacht snap up Blackrock College pair", Irish Times, 10 May 2005 Victor Costello (retired)"Ireland star Costello to retire", BBC Sport, 16 March 2005 Shane Jennings to Leicester Tigers"Jennings set to join Leicester", BBC Sport, 5 April 2005 David McAllister Aidan McCullen to Toulouse"McCullen follows Brennan to Toulouse", Irish Times, 7 May 2005 Dave Hewitt to Racing 92 David Holwell to Hurricanes"Fly-half Holwell to quit Leinster", BBC Sport, 10 March 2005 John Hearty to Connacht David Quinlan to Northampton Saints"Quinlan moves to Saints", Irish Examiner, 19 May 2005 John McWeeney (retired)
Squad
Leinster Rugby squadLeinster squad, 2005-06, Guinness Pro12, retrieved 29 August 2026Props Emmet Byrne Reggie Corrigan Will Green John Lyne Ronan McCormack
Hookers Brian Blaney David Blaney Bernard Jackman
Locks Adam Byrnes Ben Gissing Cameron Jowitt Malcolm O'Kelly Devin Toner Bryce WilliamsBack row Simon Crawford Des Dillon Keith Gleeson Jamie Heaslip Eric Miller Ciarán Potts Niall Ronan
Scrum-halves Guy Easterby Brian O'Meara Brian O'Riordan
Fly-halves Felipe Contepomi Eoghan Hickey Johnny Sexton Christian WarnerCentres Brendan Burke Stephen Grissing Jonny Hepworth Shane Horgan Kieran Lewis Brian O'Driscoll
Wings Gary Brown Gordon D'Arcy Denis Hickie (c) James Norton
Fullbacks Girvan Dempsey Rob Kearney (c) denotes the team captain, Bold denotes internationally capped players. * denotes players qualified to play for Ireland on residency or dual nationality.
Celtic League Table PosTeamPldWDLPFPAPDTFTATBPLBPPts1 Ulster201514510347+163493132752 Leinster201406545427+118594582743 Munster201208439372+67494273664 Cardiff Blues201109475389+86513865635 Edinburgh Gunners201109418415+3484553606 Llanelli Scarlets201019418402+16493734577 Ospreys201109381409−28333812558 Newport Gwent Dragons207013355456−101405127459 Border Reivers207013386501−1153959174410 Connacht206014325466−1412851143711 Glasgow Warriors205015371439−6839472737Due to the uneven number of participating teams, each team had two free weekends and were awarded 4 match points each time.Source: RaboDirect PRO12
Heineken Cup
Pool 5 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts Bath (6)6501189+9166111+553023 Leinster (8)64022813+15214124+904222 Bourgoin6204924−15109195−86109 Glasgow61051625−9131190−59116
Quarter-final
Semi-final
End-of-season awards Winners of the 2006 Leinster Rugby Awards were:"Contepomi named Leinster Player of the Year", 14 June 2007
Player of the year: Felipe Contepomi Young player of the year: Rob Kearney Women's player of the year: Tanya Rosser Club player of the year: Doonachadh Casey, Monkstown RFC Hall of Fame: Ken Ging
References