title: Munster Rugby

text: The 1995–96 season saw the first ever Heineken Cup, a new tournament set up for European clubs. The Irish were allocated three places in the competition, with these places going to Leinster, Munster and Ulster. Munster finally reached the Heineken Cup quarter-finals in 1998–99 Heineken Cup, after three years of not being able to get out of the group stages.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Munster's first appearance in the Heineken Cup's final was in the 1999–2000 Heineken Cup, where they lost by one point to Northampton at Twickenham. Nevertheless, the season was most memorable with a 31–25 win over Toulouse in Bordeaux.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Their good form and bad luck continued in the following season, 2000–01, with a semi-final defeat to Stade Français, again by one point, where a try from John O'Neill was disallowed by the referee, as he deemed the ball to be out over the dead-ball line. In the 2001–02 Heineken Cup, Munster lost the last match of their pool at Castres, but qualified as best runners-up. Munster beat Stade Français 16–14 in Paris, the only try of the game coming from Anthony Horgan. It was then on to Béziers to meet Castres again for the semi-final. Munster were triumphant and went to the final at Millennium Stadium to meet the reigning champions, Leicester. Munster lost a tight game remembered as 'the hand of Back' final, as the Leicester flanker used his hand illegally in a scrum when Munster had a last-chance attack. Munster also reached the final of the Celtic League in this season, but lost 24–20 to Leinster at Lansdowne Road, Dublin.


title: Munster Rugby

text: In 2002–03, Munster reached the quarter-finals after a win against Gloucester, later issued on VHS under the title "The Miracle Match". In this game, Munster needed to win by a margin of at least 27 points and score a minimum of four tries to earn a quarter-final berth. They won 33–6 with four tries in a game that has become part of Munster Rugby folklore. They again faced Leicester, this time at the Tigers' home of Welford Road, and defeated the reigning champions to progress to the semi-finals. They faced Toulouse in the semi-finals and lost out on a place in the final after losing by a single point in France. In this season, Munster won the Celtic League for the first time, by beating Neath-Swansea Ospreys 37–17 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff.


title: Munster Rugby

text: In 2003–04 it was more of the same. After an assured performance in the pool stage, Munster defeated Stade Français at Thomond Park to set up a semi-final date with English champions, London Wasps. This match has gone down as one of the best Heineken Cup matches of all time. Although leading by 10 points in the second half, and having lost Ronan O'Gara to injury early on, they succumbed to two Wasps tries in injury time, resulting in a Wasps v Toulouse final. Munster finished in a disappointing seventh position in the 2003–04 season of the Celtic League.


title: Munster Rugby

text: In 2004–05, after a shaky performance in the pool stage, Munster qualified as 5th seeds and played Biarritz away. The match was played at Real Sociedad's ground, the Anoeta Stadium, in San Sebastián, Spain – the first Heineken Cup game ever played in Spain. Biarritz won 19–10 to avenge a 38–29 defeat at the same stage in 2001. Munster finished second in the 2004–05 Celtic League season but won the Celtic Cup, defeating Llanelli Scarlets 27–16 in the final.


title: Munster Rugby

text: In 2005–06, Munster qualified to the final of the Heineken Cup, having overcome rivals Leinster 30–6 in the semi-final at Lansdowne Road. The final was held at the Millennium Stadium against Biarritz. Munster won 23–19 to become European Champions for the first time. Munster finished one place lower than the previous season in the Celtic League, finishing third overall.


title: Munster Rugby

text: The 2006–07 Heineken Cup was a disappointing tournament for Munster, as they lost their previously unbeaten European record at Thomond Park, losing to Leicester Tigers in the group stages in January 2007, and later lost their quarter-final to Llanelli Scarlets. Munster's performance in the Celtic League was equally disappointing, finishing sixth overall.


title: Munster Rugby

text: In 2007, Munster signed Doug Howlett, the all-time leading try scorer for New Zealand. Howlett joined the squad after the 2007 Rugby World Cup. That season's Heineken Cup saw Munster finish top in their group, and they went on to reach the final for the second time in three years, beating Saracens in the semi-final. The final, again held at the Millennium Stadium, saw Munster defeat Toulouse 16–13 to claim their second Heineken Cup title in 3 years. Munster finished third in the Celtic League in the 2007–08 season. In May 2008, Director of Coaching Declan Kidney left to take up the head coach job with Ireland. Munster ensured continuity by promoting Australian Tony McGahan to the position from within the coaching setup.


title: Munster Rugby

text: In the 2008–09 Heineken Cup, Munster once again topped their group and hammered Ospreys 43–9 to advance to a semi-final against arch-rivals Leinster. Many had fancied Munster to become only the second team to win back-to-back Heineken Cups, but a dominant Leinster side gained revenge for their 2006 semi-final defeat against Munster with a 25–6 win in Croke Park, in front of a then-world record 82,208 crowd. Munster clinched the Celtic League for the second time in their history, after their closest challengers Ospreys beat Dragons but failed to claim a bonus point. This handed the title to Munster who could not be overtaken at the top of the table.


title: Munster Rugby

text: The 2009–10 season saw Munster finish top of their Heineken Cup pool once again. Victories over Northampton Saints, French Top 14 champions Perpignan and Italian side Benetton saw Munster qualify for the Heineken Cup quarter-finals for a record 12th consecutive year. The match took place at Thomond Park, where Munster played Northampton Saints for the third time that season and won 33–19. They lost 18–7 in the semi-finals against Biarritz at the Anoeta. Munster came 4th in the Celtic League, but because this season saw the introduction of a play-off system for the top four teams, Munster met and lost 16–6 to Leinster in the play-off semi-final.


title: Munster Rugby

text: The 2010–11 season saw Munster drawn in pool 3 of the Heineken Cup alongside Ospreys, London Irish and Toulon. Munster lost 23–17 away to London Irish, before defeating Toulon 45–18 at Thomond Park. Munster defeated Ospreys 22–16, but lost the reverse fixture at Liberty Stadium 19–15. In round 5 Munster went to Toulon, losing 32–16. As a result, Munster failed to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup for the first time in 13 years. Munster won their final pool game, at home to London Irish, 28–14, and qualified for the 2010–11 European Challenge Cup quarter-finals. Munster defeated Leinster 24–23 on 2 April 2011 in the Celtic League, ending a run of 5 straight defeats against their provincial rivals. Munster beat Brive 42–37 in their Challenge Cup quarter-final to qualify for the semi-final against Harlequins on 30 April. Munster lost the semi-final in Thomond Park 20–12. Munster finished first in the 2010–11 Celtic League. They beat Ospreys 18–11 in their semi-final to set up a Grand Final with Leinster, which Munster won 19–9, securing a third Celtic League title.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Munster were drawn in pool one for the 2011–12 Heineken Cup, alongside Northampton Saints, Scarlets and Castres. They beat Northampton 23–21 in the first pool game at Thomond Park, after an 83rd minute drop-goal from Ronan O'Gara. In their second pool game, Munster beat Castres 24–27, with O'Gara again scoring an overtime drop-goal to secure victory. Munster won their third pool game, away to Scarlets, 17–14. In the return fixture a week later, Munster won 19–13. A 26–10 win over Castres on 14 January 2012 ensured that Munster qualified for the quarter-finals of the 2011–12 Heineken Cup. Munster ended their 2011–12 Heineken Cup pool fixtures with a 51–36 victory against Northampton Saints, securing the top seed in the quarter-finals and winning 6 out of 6 pool matches for the first time. Munster lost their quarter-final against Ulster 22–16, losing just their second match at home in the Heineken Cup. Munster finished third in the 2011–12 Pro12, and played Ospreys away in the play-off semi-finals, losing 45–10. It was announced on 22 February 2012 that McGahan would be leaving Munster at the end of the 2011–12 season, to take up a role of coaching co-ordinator on Australia's management team. Rob Penney, coach of Canterbury and New Zealand U20, was chosen to succeed McGahan, being unveiled as the next Munster coach on 2 May 2012.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Munster were again drawn in pool one for the 2012–13 Heineken Cup, with Saracens, Edinburgh and Racing 92. The campaign opened with a 22–17 away defeat at the hands of Racing 92. Munster won their second game, at home to Edinburgh, 33–0. The December back-to-back games began with a home fixture against Saracens, which Munster won 15–9. In the reverse fixture, Munster lost 19–13. In the fifth round of pool fixtures, Munster beat Edinburgh 26–17. Munster had to win their final pool game, against Racing 92, with a try bonus-point to have a chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals. Munster won the game 29–6, scoring five tries, including a hat-trick from Simon Zebo. Leicester Tigers' 9–5 victory over Toulouse ensured that Munster qualified as a second-best runner-up, and they played Harlequins in the quarter-finals. Munster won the quarter-final 18–12, advancing to the semi-finals, which they lost 16–10 to Clermont on 27 April 2013. Munster finished sixth in the 2012–13 Pro12.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Munster were drawn in pool 6 for the 2013–14 Heineken Cup, alongside Perpignan, Edinburgh and Gloucester. Edinburgh beat Munster 29–23 in the opening pool fixture on 12 October 2013. In their second pool game on 19 October 2013, Munster beat Gloucester 26–10. Munster beat Perpignan 36–8 in round 3, and, in the round 4 reverse fixture on 14 December 2013, won 18–17 in Perpignan. Munster beat Gloucester 20–7 at Kingsholm on 11 January 2014, a win that secured quarter-final qualification. Munster beat Edinburgh 38–6 on 19 January 2014 in round 6, a bonus-point win that secured a home quarter-final. On 6 February 2014, it was announced that Penney and backs coach Simon Mannix would be leaving Munster at the end of the 2013–14 season. Former captain and then-forwards coach Anthony Foley was confirmed as the next Munster coach on 19 February 2014. In their quarter-final, Munster beat Toulouse 47–23. Munster lost 24–16 to Toulon in the semi-final on 27 April 2014. Munster finished third in the 2013–14 Pro12, but lost 16–15 to Glasgow Warriors in the semi–final.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Munster were drawn in pool 1 of the 2014–15 European Rugby Champions Cup, alongside Saracens, Clermont and Sale Sharks. A late drop-goal from Ian Keatley gave Munster a 27–26 away win against Sale Sharks in round 1 on 18 October 2014. Munster beats Saracens 14–3 in round 2 on 24 October 2014. Clermont beat Munster 16–9 at Thomond Park in round 3 on 6 December 2014, becoming the first French team to beat Munster at their home stadium. In the reverse fixture on 14 December 2014, Clermont beat Munster 26–19. Saracens beat Munster 33–10 on 17 January 2015 in round 5, a defeat which meant Munster failed to qualify for the knockout stages for only the second time in 17 seasons. In round 6, Munster beat Sale Sharks 65–10, a win that was their 100th in Europe. Munster finished second on the 2014–15 Pro12. In the play-off semi-final, Munster beat Ospreys 21–18. Munster were beaten 31–13 by Glasgow Warriors in the 2015 Pro12 Grand Final on 30 May 2015.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Munster were drawn in pool 4 of the 2015–16 European Rugby Champions Cup, alongside Stade Français, Leicester Tigers and Benetton. On 14 November 2015, Munster beat Treviso 32–7 in their opening pool game. Munster's second pool game, against Stade Français, was postponed following the November 2015 Paris attacks. The match was scheduled to be played at the Stade Jean-Bouin in Paris. Munster lost 31–19 to Leicester Tigers in round 3 on 12 December 2015. In the return fixture on 20 December 2015, Leicester beat Munster 17–6. On 9 January 2016, Munster lost 27–7 to Stade Français in the re-arranged second pool game. A week later, Munster beat Stade Français 26–13. In their final pool game on 24 January 2016, Munster beat Treviso 28–5. In April 2016, it was confirmed that former Springbok Rassie Erasmus would be joining Munster as the director of rugby on a three-year contract, beginning on 1 July 2016. Munster finished 6th in the 2015–16 Pro12.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Munster were drawn in pool 1 of the 2016–17 European Rugby Champions Cup, alongside Racing 92, Leicester Tigers and Glasgow Warriors. In October 2016, Munster's head coach and former captain Anthony Foley died while the team were in Paris for the first pool game against Racing 92. Due to the sad and sudden passing of Foley, the fixture was rescheduled. On 22 October 2016, in the first game since Foley's death, Munster beat Glasgow 38–17 at a sold-out Thomond Park. Tributes were paid to Foley before, during and after the game and the number 8 jersey was retired for the game, with CJ Stander wearing the number 24 for the occasion. On 10 December 2016, Munster beat Leicester 38–0 in round 3 of the Champions Cup. On 17 December 2016, Leicester won the reverse fixture in Welford Road 18–16 after a last-minute penalty from Owen Williams. On 7 January 2017, in the rescheduled round 1 fixture, Munster beat Racing 92 32–7 away from home. Simon Zebo's opening try was Munster's 400th in European competition. On 14 January 2017, Munster beat Glasgow 14–12 away from home to secure qualification for the quarter-finals. On 21 January 2017, in front of 26,200 spectators in Thomond Park, Munster beat Racing 92 22–10 in round 6 of the pool stage, securing a home quarter-final On 1 April 2017, in the quarter-final, Munster beat Toulouse 41–16 to progress to the semi-finals. On 22 April 2017, Munster were beaten 26–10 by defending champions Saracens in the Champions Cup semi-final, which was held in the Aviva Stadium, Dublin. Munster finished 1st after the 22-round regular season of the 2016–17 Pro12, with a record total of 86 points. On 20 May 2017, in their play-off semi-final, Munster beat Ospreys 23–3 in Thomond Park. 7 days later, in the 2017 Pro12 Grand Final, Munster lost 46–22 to Scarlets.


title: Munster Rugby

text: When the draw for the 2017–18 European Rugby Champions Cup was made, Munster were drawn in pool 4 alongside Leicester Tigers, Racing 92 and Castres. It marked the third season in a row in which Munster faced Leicester and the second season in a row in which they will play Racing 92. On 30 June 2017, it was confirmed after weeks of speculation that director of rugby Rassie Erasmus and defence coach Jacques Nienaber would leave the province in December of that year.


title: Munster Rugby

text: In August 2017, Celtic Rugby Limited and the South African Rugby Union confirmed that the two South African teams that had been cut from the southern hemisphere Super Rugby competition, Cheetahs and Southern Kings, would be joining an expanded Pro14 league ahead of the 2017–18 season. Due to the addition of two new teams, the league format was changed to feature two conferences, A and B, with Munster being placed in conference A alongside Cardiff Blues, Ospreys, Glasgow Warriors, Connacht, Cheetahs and Zebre Parma.


title: Munster Rugby

text: In October 2017, Munster confirmed that then-South Africa forwards coach Johann van Graan would join the province in November as their new head coach. In the same month, it was announced that Munster's all-time leading try scorer, Simon Zebo, would leave the province at the end of the season. In rounds 1 and 2 of the 2017–18 European Rugby Champions Cup in October 2017, Munster drew 17–17 away to Castres before earning a 14–7 win at home to Racing 92. Erasmus and Nienaber left Munster in early November 2017, with the province confirming their departure on 13 November 2017. Johann van Graan's first official game as Munster's new head coach was a 36–19 win away against Zebre Parma in the Pro14 on 26 November 2017. defence coach JP Ferreira joined Munster in December 2017. In the December Champions Cup double-header against Leicester Tigers, Munster won 33–10 at home before winning 25–16 away, their first win at Welford Road for 11 years. In doing so, Munster became the first team to defeat Leicester in both games of the double-header since they were introduced in 1999, while the home victory also saw Munster surpass 4,000 points in the competition. In rounds 5 and 6 of the Champions Cup, Munster lost 34–30 away to Racing 92 before beating Castres 48–3 at home, securing a record 17th quarter-final. Munster beat 3-time tournament champions Toulon 20–19 in the quarter-final after a late Andrew Conway try and conversion from Ian Keatley. In the semi-final, Munster were beaten 27–22 by their French pool 4 opponents Racing 92.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Munster finished 2nd in conference A of the 2017–18 Pro14 season on 69 points. In their semi-final qualifier against Edinburgh on 5 May 2018, Munster won 20–16 to progress to a semi-final away from home. In the semi-final against recently crowned Champions Cup winners and arch-rivals Leinster on 19 May 2018, Munster lost 16–15, bringing to an end their 2017–18 season.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Munster played two pre-season fixtures ahead of the 2018–19 campaign, the first against London Irish, whose directory of rugby was former Munster and Ireland head coach Declan Kidney, and the second against Exeter Chiefs, which was the first meeting between the two clubs. Munster beat London Irish 32–28, but lost 12–0 against Exeter Chiefs.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Drawn alongside French Top 14 champions Castres and English sides Exeter Chiefs and Gloucester, Munster competed in pool 2 of the 2018–19 European Rugby Champions Cup. Munster opened their 2018–19 Pro14 season with a six-try 38–0 victory against South African side Cheetahs in Thomond Park on 1 September 2018. Rory Scannell, Dave Kilcoyne, Tommy O'Donnell, JJ Hanrahan, Dave O'Callaghan and Man-of-the-Match Darren Sweetnam scored the tries, with Hanrahan adding four conversions, in a match that saw Arno Botha, Mike Haley, Joey Carbery and academy players Shane Daly and Gavin Coombes make their competitive debuts for the province, whilst Neil Cronin also made his first appearance for Munster since March 2015.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Tadhg Beirne made his debut for Munster in the provinces 25–10 defeat away to Glasgow Warriors on 7 September 2018. Munster's 64–7 win against Ulster on 29 September 2018 was a record win for the province in the Pro14; Munster's previous record win being 47–0 against Zebre Parma in 2016. In round one of the 2018–19 Champions Cup on 13 October 2018, a try from Stander and five points from the boot of Joey Carbery secured a 10–10 draw in Sandy Park against Exeter Chiefs, in a match in which Dan Goggin and Neil Cronin made their competitive European debuts, whilst Tadhg Beirne, who was Man-of-the-Match, Mike Haley and Joey Carbery made their European debuts for Munster. One week later, tries from Mike Haley, Rhys Marshall, Joey Carbery, who also kicked four conversions and one penalty in a Man-of-the-Match performance, Sammy Arnold and Andrew Conway helped Munster to a 36–22 bonus-point victory at home against Gloucester.


title: Munster Rugby

text: In the December 2018 back-to-back Champions Cup fixtures against Castres, Munster won 30–5 in round 3 on 9 December, with tries from Rory Scannell, Stander and JJ Hanrahan, who also scored 15 points off the kicking tee. In the return leg away to Castres on 15 December, the French side won 13–12, with Joey Carbery scoring all of Munster's points from penalties. In round 5 of the Champions Cup, Munster beat Gloucester 41–15 away from home on 11 January 2019, with the tries coming from Joey Carbery (2), Rory Scannell, Keith Earls and Andrew Conway and 16 points of the kicking tee from Carbery. In round 6, Munster beat Exeter Chiefs 9–7 in Thomond Park on 19 January 2019 to advance to a record 18th Champions Cup quarter-final. Joey Carbery scored all of Munster's points from penalties in a closely fought, physical game. Munster defeated Edinburgh 17–13 in their quarter-final in Murrayfield Stadium on 30 March 2019 to advance to a 14th Champions Cup semi-final, which Munster lost 32–16 to Saracens in the Ricoh Arena on 20 April 2019.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Munster finished second in conference A in the 2018–19 Pro14 season, with 21 wins and 5 defeats, and beat Italian side Benetton 15–13 in their quarter-final on 4 May 2019, to secure a semi-final against provincial rivals Leinster in the RDS on 18 May 2019. which Leinster won 24–9, bringing to an end Munster's 2018–19 season.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Backs coach Felix Jones and forwards coach Jerry Flannery left the province when their contracts expired in June 2019. Graham Rowntree joined the province as their new forwards coach after the completion of his duties with Georgia at the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Stephen Larkham, attack coach for the Australian national team, also joined the province as a senior coach ahead of the 2019–20 season.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Club legend and head of commercial and marketing, Doug Howlett, also left the province to return to New Zealand in the summer of 2019, ending his 11-year association with Munster. Munster's CEO Garrett Fitzgerald retired upon reaching retirement age in June 2019. Fitzgerald was Munster's first CEO and had been in the post since 1999, making him the longest serving provincial chief executive in Irish rugby at the time. Ian Flanagan, who was born in Cork and previously worked at Leicester City F.C, was appointed to replace Fitzgerald.


title: Munster Rugby

text: In a change from the previous two seasons, Munster were in conference B for the 2019–20 Pro14 season, alongside Benetton, Cardiff Blues, Connacht, Edinburgh, Scarlets and Southern Kings. This will also be the case for the 2020–21 season, and the change was made based on the points total each club achieved after the completion of the regular 2018–19 season.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Munster were seeded in tier 2 when the draw for the 2019–20 European Rugby Champions Cup was made in Lausanne, Switzerland on Wednesday 19 June 2019, and were drawn in pool 4 alongside defending champions Saracens, Racing 92, who count former Munster players Donnacha Ryan and Simon Zebo amongst their squad, and fellow Pro14 side Ospreys.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Munster opened their 2019–20 Pro14 season with a 39–9 home victory against Welsh side Dragons on 28 September 2019, with the tries coming from Arno Botha, Jack O'Donoghue, Man-of-the-Match Shane Daly, Tyler Bleyendaal and academy member Diarmuid Barron, and fly-half JJ Hanrahan contributing 14 points off the kicking tee. New signing Nick McCarthy and academy members Keynan Knox and Jack O'Sullivan all made their senior competitive debuts for the province, and hooker Kevin O'Byrne won his 50th cap. Short-term signing Jed Holloway made his debut for the province in their 31–20 away win against South African side Southern Kings on 5 October 2019.


title: Munster Rugby

text: In the opening two rounds of the 2019–20 Champions Cup, Munster beat Welsh Pro14 rivals Ospreys 32–13 away from home on 16 November 2019, with tries from Jeremy Loughman, Keith Earls, Andrew Conway and James Cronin and twelve points off the kicking tee from Tyler Bleyendaal, before drawing 21–21 at home against French side Racing 92 on 23 November 2019; Munster's tries came from Keith Earls and Andrew Conway, and JJ Hanrahan contributed eleven points with the boot. The draw was Munster's first at home in the Champions Cup, against a Racing side that included former Munster players Donnacha Ryan and Simon Zebo in their starting XV.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Prop Stephen Archer won his 200th cap for Munster in their 2019–20 Pro14 round 7 fixture against Edinburgh on 29 November 2019, becoming the eleventh player to achieve the accolade for the province. Academy fly-half Ben Healy made his debut for Munster during the same game, scoring 11 points in the 18–16 defeat to the Scottish side.


title: Munster Rugby

text: In the Champions Cup back-to-backs against defending champions Saracens, Munster won 10–3 at home on 7 December 2019, with the English side picking up a losing bonus point. In the return fixture one week later, Munster were beaten 15–6, with two tries in the final quarter securing the win for Saracens and denying Munster a losing bonus point.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Following an incident that triggered a large brawl in Munster's second fixture against Saracens in December 2019 and a complaint to the EPCR from Saracens, in which Munster team doctor Jamie Kearns was accused of verbally abusing Saracens hooker Jamie George, an independent panel upheld the complaint and found that Kearns had breached the EPCR's disciplinary rules, handing Kearns a three-week ban, suspended for 12 months, and a fine of €2,000 to be paid immediately.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Munster went into their round 5 Champions Cup clash away to Racing 92 on 12 January 2020 knowing that they had to win to keep alive their hopes of progressing to the quarter-finals of the tournament, but despite leading the French club with ten minutes to go, late tries from Racing secured a 39–22 win for the home side. Munster needed results elsewhere to go their way if they were to stand any chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals as the final round of pool matches took place, but Glasgow Warriors 45–7 win against Sale Sharks ended those hopes before Munster's final game against Ospreys had even taken place. In the event, Munster won 33–6 against Ospreys, with Craig Casey, who made his European debut for the province in the defeat to Racing, scoring his first try for Munster, and Calvin Nash, Jack O'Sullivan and Ben Healy making their European debuts for the province.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Munster's 68–3 win against South African side Southern Kings in round 11 of the Pro14 on 14 February 2020 was a record margin of victory for the province in the competition, and the ten tries scored also set a new record for the province. Academy member John Hodnett made his debut for Munster in the fixture, scoring a try and earning the Man-of-the-Match award. The match had an added poignancy for Munster, as their long-serving former CEO, Garrett Fitzgerald, who had only retired in June 2019, passed away following a battle with illness earlier that day.


title: Munster Rugby

text: The 2019–20 Pro14 was suspended indefinitely by tournament organisers on 12 March 2020 in response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Munster's round 14 and 15 fixtures against Italian side Benetton had already been postponed. Tyler Bleyendaal was forced to retire from playing rugby with immediate effect in May 2020 due to a persistent neck injury. In the same month, prop Brian Scott was also forced to retire with immediate effect due to injury. The regular season resumed on 22 August 2020, with the number of rounds reduced from 21 to 15 and any games postponed prior to the indefinite suspension of the season being deemed as 0–0 draws and both teams awarded two points. Rounds 14 and 15 took place as derbies in each territory, with the top two teams in each conference progressing to a semi-final stage.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Munster resumed their season on 22 August 2020 with a fixture against Leinster in the Aviva Stadium, which Leinster won 27–25. Munster handed debuts to new signings Damian de Allende and RG Snyman, though Snyman's first appearance for the province lasted only 7 minutes after he was injured during a lineout. Andrew Conway scored tries either side of Keith Earls' try, with JJ Hanrahan kicking 10 points off the tee, and Chris Farrell won the Man-of-the-Match award.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Munster completed their reduced 15 round Pro14 regular season with a seven try 49–12 win against Connacht, a victory that secured a semi-final against defending champions and provincial rivals Leinster on 4 September 2020. The tries came from Chris Cloete, Jeremy Loughman, Tadhg Beirne, James Cronin, two from Andrew Conway and a penalty try, with JJ Hanrahan kicking all five of his conversions and Rory Scannell converting the final try. As well as getting on the scoresheet, Tadhg Beirne also won the Man-of-the-Match award on his first game back after fracturing an ankle against Saracens in December 2019. Leinster won the semi-final 13–3, knocking Munster out at the semi-final stage of the Pro14 for the third season in a row.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Munster opened their 2020–21 Pro14 season with a 30–27 away win against Scarlets on 3 October 2020. Despite nine penalties from Scarlets fullback Leigh Halfpenny and a red card for captain Peter O'Mahony, tries from Jack O'Donoghue and Chris Farrell kept Munster within touching distance of the hosts, and a try from replacement hooker Kevin O'Byrne, converted by Ben Healy, levelled the score going into the final minutes of the game, before academy fly-half Healy scored a 50-metre penalty in the 81st minute to earn what had previously looked like an unlikely win for the province.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Munster's 2020–21 Champions Cup campaign commenced with a 21–7 home win against Harlequins on 13 December 2020, in which Gavin Coombes, Damian de Allende and Josh Wycherley made their tournament debuts. Coombes scored one try, with the other being a penalty try, with JJ Hanrahan and Ben Healy adding nine points of the kicking tee between them. Munster travelled away to Clermont for round two on 19 December 2020 and, despite trailing 28–9 to the home side at one point, fought back to earn a stunning 39–31 win at the Stade Marcel-Michelin. The tries for Munster came from Mike Haley, star-of-the-match CJ Stander and Kevin O'Byrne, with JJ Hanrahan scoring a perfect nine from nine off the kicking tee for the other 24 points.


title: Munster Rugby

text: In early January 2021, the EPCR took the decision to temporarily suspend rounds 3 and 4 of the 2020–21 Champions Cup, following a directive from authorities in France that French clubs should not participate in the scheduled matches in response to health risks posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Munster's 20–17 win against Connacht in round 14 of the 2020–21 Pro14 on 5 March 2021 saw them become the first team to qualify for 2021 Pro14 Grand Final, as the victory gave them an unassailable 12 point lead at the top of conference B with two rounds remaining. Munster were beaten 16–6 by arch-rivals Leinster in the 2021 Pro14 Grand Final on 27 March 2021.


title: Munster Rugby

text: The Champions Cup resumed on the weekend of 2/3/4 April 2021 with the top eight teams from each pool at the time of suspension progressing to the round of 16, where Munster had home advantage thanks to their wins in the opening games against Harlequins and Clermont. Munster were drawn against Toulouse.


title: Munster Rugby

text: In an enthralling encounter at Thomond Park, Munster led 16–9 at half-time thanks to two tries from Keith Earls and two penalties from Joey Carbery, but Toulouse pulled level thanks to a converted try from Matthis Lebel. Gavin Coombes scored from close-range to give Munster the lead again, before Toulouse captain Julien Marchand responded with a try to level the scores again at 23–23. Substitute fly-half JJ Hanrahan scored a penalty to give Munster a 26–23 lead heading into the final 15 minutes of the match, but Toulouse's talismanic scrum-half Antoine Dupont scored two tries in 9 minutes to help the French club pull away on the scoreboard. A late consolation try from Gavin Coombes, his second of the match, in overtime meant the final score was 40–33 to Toulouse, who became just the second French club to win a European match at Thomond Park and advanced to an away quarter-final against Munster's pool opponents Clermont.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Munster opened their 2021–22 United Rugby Championship campaign with a bonus-point 42–17 win against the Sharks, one of the four new South African teams, on 25 September 2021. Simon Zebo, making his return for the province, scored two tries, extending his club record to 62, with Gavin Coombes continuing his try-scoring exploits from the previous season with two tries of his own. Chris Cloete and player of the match Craig Casey also crossed the try line. Fly-half Joey Carbery scored seven points off the kicking tee, with his replacement Ben Healy contributing five points off the tee in the second-half. RG Snyman made his eagerly-awaited return from long-term injury as a second-half replacement, and scrum-half Rowan Osborne made his competitive debut for the province, in a match that saw fans return to Thomond Park for the first time since February 2020.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Munster were in South Africa for rounds 6 and 7 of the United Rugby Championship, in which they were due to play the and the , however, the emergence of the "omicron" variant of COVID-19 led to travel restrictions being implemented by UK and EU authorities, meaning the fixtures had to be postponed. 34 players and staff arrived back in Ireland on 1 December 2021 and immediately entered 10 days of mandatory self-isolation. 14 players and staff who had tested positive for COVID-19 had to remain in South Africa.


title: Munster Rugby

text: In the wake of this disruption for Munster and other clubs, and with Munster's opening Champions Cup fixture away to Wasps falling on 12 December, the EPCR extended the deadline for registering players for the tournament to 8 December, meaning Munster could look to supplement their squad with short-term signings, and 22 players were subsequently registered with the province's Champions Cup squad.


title: Munster Rugby

text: A depleted Munster squad made up of internationals who'd been away with Ireland during the Autumn tests, academy players and members of the national and provincial talent squads travelled over to England to face Wasps on their opening Champions Cup fixture on 12 December 2021. The team, which featured 12 debutantes, pulled off one of the great Munster away victories, defeating their opponents 35–14 in a thrilling contest in front of a large contingent of Munster fans who had made the journey to Coventry.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Munster made it back-to-back wins in the Champions Cup with a gritty 19–13 win at home against French club Castres on 18 December 2021, with a 58th minute try from number 8 Jack O'Donoghue and 14 points off the tee from fly-half Ben Healy being enough for the province to see off their opposition.


title: Munster Rugby

text: In the reverse fixture against Castres in round 3 of the Champions Cup on 14 January 2022, Munster earned a 16–13 away win thanks to a 77th minute try from Gavin Coombes, converted by rookie fly-half Jack Crowley, who was faultless off the kicking tee in his first European start for the province. The win secured a place in the knockout stage of the tournament for Munster. Nine days later, Munster followed up their away win against Castres with a 45–7 home win against Wasps, with the tries coming from Jeremy Loughman, Conor Murray, Jack O'Donoghue, who was player of the match on the occasion of his 150th cap for Munster, Rory Scannell and Simon Zebo, who scored a brace to become Munster's all-time leading try-scorer in the Champions Cup and the leading Irish try-scorer in the competition overall. Fly-half Ben Healy and his replacement on the day, Jack Crowley, were both 100% from the kicking tee, with Healy scoring four conversions and a penalty, and Crowley adding two late conversions. The win secured home advantage for Munster in the second leg of the round of 16.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Munster faced English club Exeter Chiefs in the round of 16, and lost the first leg of the tie 13–8 away to the Premiership club on 9 April 2022. Exeter took a 10–0 lead in to half-time after tries from Stuart Hogg and Jacques Vermeulen, before Munster fly-half Ben Healy hit back with a penalty to reduce the home sides lead. Hogg responded for Exeter with a drop-goal, but a 66th minute try from Shane Daly brought Munster back within touching distance on the scoreboard, and Exeter had to withstand some intense offensive play from Munster going into the final ten minutes, with replacement scrum-half Craig Casey almost drawing the scores level, before the hosts themselves assaulted the Munster try-line in the last minutes of the match in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to extend their lead.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Needing to overturn a five point deficit to advance in the competition, Munster welcomed Exeter to Thomond Park for the second leg of their last 16 tie one week later. Fly-half Joey Carbery, returning from injury, opened the scoring for the hosts with a penalty, but the visitors responded with their first try of the game to take an early 5–3 lead, before Carbery struck back for Munster with a try of his own, to which he added a second penalty to give Munster a 13–5 half-time lead. Exeter struck first in the second-half with a try in the 47th minute, but Carbery kept Munster in front with two further penalties, before centre Damian de Allende scored a 74th minute try to secure a 26–10 home win for Munster and a 34–23 victory on aggregate, ensuring Munster progressed to a record 19th Champions Cup quarter-final.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Facing defending champions Toulouse, who knocked the province out of the previous season's tournament, in the quarter-final, Munster began strongly with an 11th minute Alex Kendellen try, converted by Joey Carbery to lead 7–0, but Romain Ntamack hit back for Toulouse two minutes later with a try of his own, converted by Thomas Ramos, to level the scores. The visitors were dominating the scrum and scored their second try in the 25th minute when Matthis Lebel touched down, with Ramos again converting to give Toulouse a 14–7 lead. However, Munster struck back with a Keith Earls try just before half-time which Carbery converted to leave the scores level heading into the break. The home side came out firing in the second-half, with Mike Haley scoring a 43rd minute try, again converted by Carbery, to give Munster a 21–14 lead, which Carbery extended with a penalty in the 56th minute, but Toulouse responded with Lebel's second try in the 66th minute which, when converted by Ramos, reduced the margin to just three points heading into the final ten minutes. A 75th minute penalty from Ramos levelled the scores at 24–24, and that remained the score at full-time after Ben Healy missed with a 56 metre penalty attempt in the final minute of normal time.


title: Munster Rugby

text: With the scores level at full-time and as both teams scored three tries, extra time ensued, played over two ten-minute halves, but even after that the two teams could not be separated after three missed drop goals between the two, and the game went to a penalty shootout. Munster went first and Conor Murray scored his penalty. Antoine Dupont responded successfully for Toulouse, but Ben Healy missed his first attempt, and when Thomas Ramos scored his penalty, it was advantage Toulouse. Carbery scored his penalty, but Romain Ntamack scored his own to restore Toulouse's lead. Murray missed with his second attempt, whilst Dupont was successful with his own to give Toulouse a 4–2 lead, meaning Healy had to score with his second attempt to give Munster any hope, but he was unable to do so, and Toulouse advanced to the semi-finals, knocking Munster out of the competition for the second season in a row.


title: Munster Rugby

text: A 35–25 defeat away to Leinster in round 18 of the 2021–22 United Rugby Championship meant that Munster finished sixth in the league overall, and third in the Irish Shield, and the province headed north to face Ulster in the quarter-finals on 3 June 2022, but Munster lost 36–17 to bring the curtain down on their 2021–22 season, as well as Johann van Graan's tenure as head coach.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Head coach Johann van Graan, who joined Munster in November 2017, confirmed in December 2021 that he would be leaving the province at the end of the 2021–22 season to join English club Bath. In addition to this, senior coach Stephen Larkham also left the province to return home to Australia to become head coach of the Brumbies, and defence coach JP Ferreira followed van Graan to join Bath. However, forwards coach Graham Rowntree extended his stay with the province by a further two years, and the province confirmed in April 2022 that Rowntree would be promoted to head coach from the 2022–23 season. Mike Prendergast, a former scrum-half for the province, joined Rowntree's coaching setup as the attack coach on a three-year contract, having most recently fulfilled a similar role for French club Racing 92. Andi Kyriacou, who had joined the province in April 2021 as an elite player development officer with the academy, was promoted to forwards coach with the senior squad on a two-year contract, and former Munster player Denis Leamy returned to the province as defence coach on a three-year contract.


title: Munster Rugby

text: The 'three crowns' flag of Munster Rugby derives from the historic coat of arms of Munster, which reputedly alludes to the three constituent historic kingdoms of Munster; Thomond in the north, Desmond in the south, and Ormond in the east.


title: Munster Rugby

text: A revamped logo was introduced for the 2003–04 season which included the addition of a stag with the three crowns. The new crest was designed by the Limerick graphic design and branding agency "Designer's Ink", who received a Gold Award in the Irish Design Effectiveness Awards for the branding and implementation of Munster Rugby. The crest was designed to maintain the three crowns and the new red stag symbolises strength and competitiveness. The decision for change was a product of two years of planning of research and design.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Munster's kit is made by Adidas, who replaced Canterbury in 2007 in a deal initially covering kit supply for three seasons. Between 2004 and 2013, Toyota was Munster's primary sponsor, appearing on the front of their jersey. On 23 May 2013, it was announced on that Bank of Ireland would be replacing Toyota as Munster's sponsor. In April 2017, the deal with Bank of Ireland was extended until the end of the 2022–23 season. In August 2017, Munster announced that Shannon Airport had become its 'official airport partner' in a three-year deal, which would see the Shannon Airport logo appear on the players' shorts from the 2017–18 season onwards. The deals with kit manufacturer Adidas and retail partner LifeStyle Sports were extended in July 2019 until the end of the 2025–26 season.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Munster have two main stadia where they play their home matches – Thomond Park in Limerick and Musgrave Park in Cork. Thomond Park is the bigger of the two, with a capacity of 25,600, which can be expanded up to 26,267 with temporary seating, while Musgrave Park holds 8,008. As well as Munster, Shannon and UL Bohemians play at the grounds of Thomond Park. Thomond Park is famous for its atmosphere and unique history – its noise during play and complete silence when a player (home or away) is kicking at goal. It was also famous for Munster's intimidating record that it held for over a decade – having never been beaten at home during the Heineken Cup. However, the record was broken during the 2006–07 season when they were defeated by Leicester Tigers. Munster train in the University of Limerick.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Thomond Park went through a major renovation in 1999 and in 2006, Munster announced plans to upgrade it. In autumn 2008, the new 25,600 capacity stadium was opened. Two sweeping arches are one of the defining features of the stadium, as well as the concourse outside of the new East Stand. The new stadium design was well received and won the Public Choice Award for 2009 from the Irish Architecture Foundation. A long discussion and consultation on the new name concluded with the decision that the name would remain "Thomond Park".


title: Munster Rugby

text: The "Munster Rugby Supporters Club" was founded in 1999 and has branches in Brussels, Dublin, London and the United States. The strength of Munster's support was demonstrated during Munster's 2006 and 2008 Heineken Cup final wins. News reports detailed the lengths that fans were willing to go to secure tickets to the game, with some Munster fans travelling to Biarritz to buy up the French allocation of tickets. On the day of the game the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff was filled with a capacity crowd of 74,500. Of those numbers it is estimated that somewhere between 55,000 and 65,000 were Munster fans with the remainder being neutrals and Biarritz supporters. The Millennium Stadium was intended to be a neutral venue but commentators on the day remarked that it could hardly be counted as such.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Munster played in the most attended semi-final match of the Heineken Cup. 82,208 spectators attended their 2008–09 Heineken Cup semi-final against Irish rivals Leinster, which was played in Croke Park, Dublin. This was also, at the time, the largest crowd ever at a club rugby union match. The record was broken in a league game between English sides Saracens and Harlequins in 2012.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Munster's appearance in the 2002 final of the Heineken Cup against Leicester Tigers at the Millennium Stadium, which drew 74,600, was the record attendance for a final in the competition until the 2007 Heineken Cup final between Leicester and London Wasps at the newly expanded Twickenham. Munster's 2005 quarter-final against Biarritz Olympique in Estadio Anoeta, played across the border in Spain in San Sebastián set the record for the biggest rugby match ever played in Spain with an attendance of 32,000. Their October 2006 Celtic League game against Leinster at Lansdowne Road beat the record for that competition with an attendance of 27,252. This record lasted just two months however, with the Leinster and Ulster match on 31 December 2006 filling Lansdowne Road (over 48,000 in attendance) for the last match at the stadium before redevelopment.


title: Munster Rugby

text: On 2 October 2010, Munster played Leinster in the round 5 of the Celtic League at the Aviva Stadium, this set a new crowd attendance record for a Celtic League game at 50,645. On 26 December 2017, a new attendance record for Thomond Park in the Pro14 was set when 26,267 were at the Munster v Leinster fixture.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Munster fans are known for their silence when a kick is being taken, but also for their noise. Fans repeatedly chant "MUNSTER" or sing "The Fields of Athenry" (an Irish famine song from Galway, Connacht) and "Stand Up and Fight" (from the Broadway musical "Carmen Jones"). They sang "The Black Velvet Band" to the Ospreys' Irish winger Tommy Bowe during their 2009 Heineken Cup quarter-final encounter. Tommy Bowe sang this song at the official reception for the 2009 Grand Slam winning Ireland rugby team. Munster Rugby has given the word "Garryowen" to the rugby lexicon. The Limerick club of Garryowen introduced the "Garryowen kick", a high up and under which puts defending players under pressure. During the 2021–22 season, Munster fans adopted the song "Zombie" by "The Cranberries", who were founded in Limerick, with the hit single featuring prominently in Munster's defeat against Toulouse in May 2022 and in their win against a South Africa XV in Páirc Uí Chaoimh in November 2022.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Munster A is the team that represents Munster in the Celtic Cup and in the IRFU Interprovincial Championship. Pre-professionalism and a formal league structure, the main Munster team competed in the IRFU Interprovincial Championship. Since the advent of professionalism, the provinces have fielded lesser teams in order to concentrate on the league. The team is composed of senior Munster squad players requiring gametime, academy players and All-Ireland League players called up from their club.


title: Munster Rugby

text: Having been beaten finalists in the 2009–10 British and Irish Cup, losing 23–14 to Cornish Pirates, Munster A secured success in the British and Irish Cup on 27 April 2012, beating Cross Keys 31–12 in the final of the 2011–12 tournament at Musgrave Park. On 21 April 2017, Munster A won their second British and Irish Cup, beating English RFU Championship side Jersey Reds 29–28 in the 2016–17 final, which was held in Musgrave Park. At one point during the first half, Munster A had been losing 18–0, but fought back to secure victory.


title: Munster Rugby

text: With 2017–18 being the last season in which the British and Irish Cup was held, the Welsh Rugby Union and Irish Rugby Football Union formed a new tournament, the Celtic Cup, which features development squads from the four Irish provinces and four Welsh regions, split into two pools of four. The first tournament ran over seven consecutive weeks between 7 September 2018 and 21 October 2018.


title: Munster Rugby

text: "†Matches played as part of the Irish Inter-provincial Rugby Championship, separate from league fixtures, are not included in this table." <br>


title: Munster Rugby

text: The following Munster players have represented the British & Irish Lions. Bold indicates tour captain.


title: Munster Rugby

text: The following table shows the players who won at least 200 caps for Munster. All players are Irish, unless otherwise noted.


title: Munster Rugby

text: The following is a list of non-Irish qualified Munster players. Note: flags indicate national union as has been defined under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.


title: Munster Rugby

text: In 2010, the following Munster players were selected in the ERC European Dream Team, an all–time dream team of Heineken Cup players.


title: Munster Rugby

text: The ERC issued awards to players who had scored at least 500 and 1,000 points in European competitions.


title: Munster Rugby

text: The United Rugby Championship Golden Boot is awarded to the kicker who has successfully converted the highest percentage of place kicks during the 18-week regular URC season. The prize has been awarded annually since 2012.


title: UTM parameters

text: Urchin Tracking Module (UTM) parameters are five variants of URL parameters used by marketers to track the effectiveness of online marketing campaigns across traffic sources and publishing media. They were introduced by Google Analytics' predecessor Urchin and, consequently, are supported out-of-the-box by Google Analytics. The UTM parameters in a URL identify the campaign that refers traffic to a specific website, and attributes the browser's website session and the sessions after that until the campaign attribution window expires to it. The parameters can be parsed by analytics tools and used to populate reports.


title: UTM parameters

text: UTM parameters in a URL identify the marketing campaign that refers traffic to a specific website. To define and append the relevant UTM parameters to the appropriate URLs, marketers routinely use simple, spreadsheet-based, or automated UTM builder tools, including the Google Analytics URL Builder for websites. When a hyperlink contains a URL with UTM parameters, the web analytics software of the destination website interprets the parameter information and attributes it to the browser's website session and the sessions after that until the campaign attribution window has expired (by default, six months in Google Analytics).


title: UTM parameters

text: UTM parameters that are passed to URLs can be parsed by analytics tools such as Google Analytics and Adobe Analytics, with the data used to populate standard and custom analytics reports. Web analytics software may attribute parameters to the browser's current and subsequent sessions until the campaign window has expired.


title: Dev (singer)

text: Devin Star Tailes (born July 2, 1989), known professionally as Dev (sometimes stylized as DEV or dEV), is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, model and radio host. She was discovered by the Cataracs and record label Indie-Pop via Myspace after Dev's friend posted a video of her singing. Dev's song "Booty Bounce" was sampled in Far East Movement's hit single "Like a G6", which reached number one in the US and sold over four million downloads in the country.


title: Dev (singer)

text: Dev was signed to Universal Republic in October 2010 and released her debut single, "Bass Down Low", on November 16, 2010, which reached the top 10 in the United Kingdom. Her debut album, "The Night the Sun Came Up", was released on March 27, 2012. The album's second single, "In the Dark", peaked at number 11 in the US chart, making it her most successful solo single to date. In 2014, Dev released two EPs, "Bittersweet July" and the second part as a follow-up to part one. She is also a radio host of the popular radio Beats 1 by Apple, founded in 2015.


title: Dev (singer)

text: In mid-2016, Dev started promoting her second album with an lead single called "#1", featuring Nef the Pharaoh, which reached the top 15 on the "Billboard" Rhythmic Songs chart. Dev's second studio album, "I Only See You When I'm Dreamin'", was made available for pre-order in July 2017; it includes the singles "All I Wanna Do" and "Come at Me" and is her first full-length project since 2011's "The Night the Sun Came Up".


title: Dev (singer)

text: Dev was born to Lisa, a real estate agent, and Riki Tailes, a painting contractor. She has two younger sisters, Sierra Sol (born September 13, 1994) and Maezee Lua. Dev is of Costa Rican, Portuguese and Mexican descent. She grew up in the city of Manteca. At age 4, she began swimming and was part of the U.S. Olympic development program. She attended Brock Elliott Elementary and graduated from Sierra High School in 2007, where she was a member of band and choir. She attended San Joaquin Delta College, studying English and art history.


title: Dev (singer)

text: In 2009, Dev made a cover of Amy Winehouse's "Back to Black", and, after a friend posted the song on MySpace along with an original song about an ex-boyfriend, the production team the Cataracs contacted Dev. To Fashion Indie Magazine, she said, "I decided to put up this song on MySpace. [...] it was basically a "diss track" and I didn't expect anything out of it. It was just to make me feel good like how music usually do but Niles [of the Cataracs] came across to my page and was really into my voice and they kind of got me into singing and opened up my eyes to business opportunities". She dropped out of college in her first year to pursue her singing career and was then signed by the Los Angeles-based record label and management team, Indie-Pop, who also discovered the Cataracs. Six months later, Dev and the Cataracs' song "2Nite" began to gain exposure on the radio, the music video channel MTVU and the "Billboard" Hot Dance Airplay chart. In 2009, Dev moved to Los Angeles to produce music with the Cataracs and work directly with Indie-Pop.


title: Dev (singer)

text: In 2010, the Cataracs produced "Like a G6" with Far East Movement and decided to use a verse from Dev's single "Booty Bounce" as the chorus. The two songs were made in the same summer, at the time where Dev and the Cataracs "were grinding it out in the studio pretty tough together," making a couple of "simplistic random tracks." "Like a G6", which features Far East Movement and Dev, was released in April 2010, and reached number one on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 chart. The song went on to sell over four million downloads in the US. In August 2010, a video was made for "Booty Bounce" directed by Ethan Lader, and uploaded it onto YouTube, where it has generated over 20 million views. In October 2010, Dev was signed to Universal Republic and her first official single, "Bass Down Low", was serviced to rhythmic radio stations in November. It was released digitally in select countries on December 6, 2010, and one day later in the United States. The song reached 61 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart and number two on the Heatseekers Songs chart. In Canada, the song peaked at number 35 in its fifth week on the Canadian Hot 100 chart. However, "Bass Down Low" saw massive success in the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number ten on the UK Singles Chart.


title: Dev (singer)

text: On April 25, 2011, she released the single "In the Dark". The song enjoyed commercial success in the United States, peaking at number 11 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart and the summit of Hot Dance Club Songs and peaked in the top 40 in Canada, Australia, Denmark, Ireland, Scotland and the United Kingdom. The song's music video features shots of black-painted hands that touch Dev while she is standing naked. Dev's debut album "The Night the Sun Came Up" has been released in United Kingdom on September 20, 2011. Since 2009, Dev has been working on her debut album with main producers, the Cataracs. In March 2011, Dev and the Cataracs traveled to Costa Rica for three weeks where they recorded and produced most of the material for the new album. She explained of the album's genres, "typical pop music is not what I am only good at doing; I have a lot of ideas and hip-hop influence records, some electro ballads." In March 2011, New Boyz's single "Backseat", featuring Dev and the Cataracs, was released. The song peaked at number 26 on the "Billboard" Hot 100. She was featured on Demi Lovato's album "Unbroken" on a song called "Who's That Boy". She featured on a song by British boy band JLS, "She Makes Me Wanna", which peaked at the top of the UK Singles Chart in the United Kingdom.


title: Dev (singer)

text: Dev also released two more promotional singles through Twitter, "Poison" and "Call Me" both covers of Bell Biv Devoe and Blondie respectively. She also featured in EDM artist David Guetta's album, "Nothing But the Beat" on a song called "I Just Wanna F" with Timbaland and Afrojack. Dev has also featured on a single by Swedish singer Eric Saade, "Hotter Than Fire" which was released on November 2, 2011, in Sweden. Dev is featured on a remix of Girls' Generation's song "Bad Girl" by the Cataracs, featured on their Japanese remix album and Dev was also featured in Timbaland's promotional single "Break Ya Back". The American version of "The Night the Sun Came Up" was released on March 26, 2012, in the United States, which includes new tracks compared to previous releases of the album. Dev has teamed up with singer Enrique Iglesias on a track called "Naked" which is produced by the Cataracs and was released as the third single of the repackaged album. It reached the first position in Mexico and the second position in the US dance chart.


title: Dev (singer)

text: At the 2012 Lollapalooza, Dev revealed that she was currently working on her second album; "I'm using a lot more live instrumentation for this album", stating "I had such a great time making a very electronic-based album for the first one, but you know, I'm just moving to different things, different sounds, so we'll see." Her track "Bass Down Low" was featured during match intervals of Volleyball, Beach Volleyball and Basketball among others during the 2012 Summer Olympics. In 2013 Universal Republic Records announced that they were going defunct, all artists from the label moved to Republic Records. In November 1, she has posted on her official YouTube a new song, "Kiss It" featuring Sage the Gemini produced by Hit-Boy. While "Kiss It" will release on December 17, 2013. A remix version was released featured Casey Veggies in place of Sage the Gemini.


title: Dev (singer)

text: In November 2013, Dev also collaborated with singer Mia Martina for her single "Danse" which gained popularity in Latin and dance charts throughout spring 2014.


title: Dev (singer)

text: In the mid-2014, after the release of her previous single "Kiss It", Dev left Universal Republic and decided to release music on her own, without a label. On May 5, 2014, Dev released an EP called "Not All Love Songs Have To Be So Sad" with NanosauR. The EP was released via iTunes on July 31, 2014. On August 7, 2014, Dev has posted a snippet of a new song on her Instagram account called "Kids" and revealed that "Bittersweet July" will be available for pre-order on August 11. It was released on September 23 by Rica Lyfe Records, her own label. On November 5, 2014, "Honey Dip" was confirmed as the first single from the EP, the video was directed by the Oakland-based rapper Kreayshawn. On December 6, 2014, Dev announced the release of "Bittersweet July, Pt. 2" as a follow up to Part 1 and made it available for pre-order along with the download of "The Night is Young". The EP was released via iTunes on December 15. The two EPs will subsequently put together in one album but it will never be considered as a real album. The third track from the second part, "Parade", was released as the lead single.


title: Dev (singer)

text: In 2015, Dev collaborated with female electro duo Nervo for their single "Hey Ricky", which was scheduled to be released with an attached video in April 2015. The single also features Kreayshawn, who directed the video. A snippet of the video leaked on March 23, 2015. The video, released on Vevo on June 2, 2015, went viral, topping the real-time US chart. In December 2015, Dev was also featured as the lead vocalist on the club hit "Electric Walk" by electro-house producer Nytrix. The song peaked at eight on the "Billboard" Dance Club Songs chart.


title: Dev (singer)

text: On January 25, 2016, Idolator posted a snippet of a song called "Lowkey" and wrote that on January 27, Ebro Darden would premiere Dev's standalone single on Beats1. Dev worked mainly with her friend-producer NanosauR, Dave Tozer and Rey Reel. "Lowkey" was released on March 8, 2016. The song was praised by the critic and compared to Selena Gomez's "Good for You".


title: Dev (singer)

text: In February 2016, Dev was featured as the lead vocalist on "We Rock It" by Sander Kleinenberg. In August 2016, Dev signed with Barry Weiss's record label RECORDS and began promoting her album with the single "#1" featuring Nef the Pharaoh, which reached the top 15 of the "Billboard" Rhythmic songs chart.


title: Dev (singer)

text: In July 2017, Dev kicked off the campaign for her second album "I Only See You When I'm Dreamin'" with the release of two singles "All I Wanna Do" & "Come at Me" along with the pre-order of the album due September 8. Dev has worked with collaborators such as RAYE, MNDR, Sarah Hudson and Marko Penn on the record.


title: Dev (singer)

text: From 2018, Dev began releasing standalone singles with "Rock On It", "Down For Me", "Girls Don't Lie" and "Clean Break" being released throughout 2018. She collaborated on the song "Make Out" by Da Candy and Ferry released in September 2018. Beginning in July 2020 Dev started releasing a single every three weeks starting with "Mango" on July 17, "Follow My Lead" on August and "Bom Dia" on September 1.


title: Dev (singer)

text: Dev's electro style and "sing-talk" vocal style have been compared to fellow pop singer Kesha. Dev responded to this, saying, "I'm confident enough in what I do that people will see me for who I am ... I get why people compare us but once people see me live they won't connect us as much." While comparing her to Kesha, "Idolator" wrote that "Dev's beats come off a bit more mellow and her songs a little bit more electro than pop." In response to being compared to both Kesha and Uffie, Dev said, "I just feel that I have a lot more to say and the ability to have an eclectic sound, I'm not bashing either artist, but I'm going to be able to give you a little bit more than what you've heard on those records. When my album comes out, hopefully I won't have to hear another reference or comparison." Much of Dev's music is inspired by rap music, as she believes that fans respond to "pop music but with rap roots". She said, "I've always been into hip-hop. Eminem changed my life when I was younger." "The Hollywood Reporter" compared her "futuristic" and "pulsing" sound to underground electroclash musicians Peaches and Yelle. Dev's musical genres have been cited as electro-crunk and electropop.


title: Dev (singer)

text: In September 2011, Dev publicly announced that she was expecting a baby girl due December 24, 2011. Dev gave birth to her daughter Emilia Lovely on December 9, 2011. MTV aired a special about Dev's life as a mom and how she is juggling being a mother and a performer at the same time. The show also shed light on her daughter (Emilia Lovely Gorecki), who was born with a condition called gastroschisis, and how her daughter overcame it.


title: Daniela Lavender

text: Daniela Lavender, Lady Kingsley ( Barbosa de Carneiro; 14 December 1974) is a Brazilian actress, appearing on Brazilian television and on English-language television, film and stage, including touring with the British Shakespeare Company.


title: Daniela Lavender

text: Lavender was born in Bahia, Brazil, daughter of a policeman father and English teacher mother. At the age of eight, Lavender began training in ballet, jazz and contemporary dance. Lavender studied Flamenco dancing under Roberto Amaral and Yolanda Arroyo in Los Angeles. Lavender received a journalism degree from Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro and studied drama at school in Rio de Janeiro, studied English for a year and traveled to London. She auditioned for the London International School of Performing Arts, playing 'Queen Anne' from Shakespeare's "Richard III", and passed the audition in spite of the language barrier.


title: Daniela Lavender

text: Lavender appeared in the low budget independent film "Emotional Backgammon" (2003), and was awarded "Best Actress" at the Denver Film Festival. Lavender appeared in "Ali G Indahouse" and the BBC series "Longitude", "EastEnders", and "Casualty." Lavender toured with the British Shakespeare Company production of "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" in 2009, playing Hippolyta and Titania. She made her theatre debut at London's Tabard Theatre in March 2011 in "A Woman Alone" (produced by Jason Greer).


title: Daniela Lavender

text: Lavender has supported Action for Brazil's Children Trust (ABC) as an ambassador, to raise awareness and funding to assist the disadvantaged.


title: Daniela Lavender

text: In her professional life, Lavender uses the surname of her first husband, Ben Lavender, to whom she was married from 1996 to 2003. She married, secondly, to actor Sir Ben Kingsley on 3 September 2007.


title: The Gingerbread Man

text: The Gingerbread Man (also known as The Gingerbread Boy) is a fairy tale about a gingerbread man's escape from various pursuers until his eventual demise between the jaws of a fox.


title: The Gingerbread Man

text: "The Gingerbread Boy" first appeared in print in the May 1875, issue of "St. Nicholas Magazine" in a cumulative tale which, like "The Little Red Hen," depends on repetitious scenes featuring an ever-growing cast of characters for its effect. According to the reteller of the tale, "A girl from Maine told it to my children. It interested them so much that I thought it worth preserving. I asked where she found it and she said an old lady told it to her in her childhood."


title: The Gingerbread Man

text: In the 1875 "St. Nicholas" tale, a childless old woman bakes a gingerbread man, who leaps from her oven and runs away. The woman and her husband give chase, but are unable to catch him. The gingerbread man then outruns several farm workers and farm men.


title: The Gingerbread Man

text: The tale ends with a fox catching and eating the gingerbread man who cries as he is devoured, "I'm quarter gone...I'm half gone...I'm three-quarters gone...I'm all gone!"


title: The Gingerbread Man

text: The Gingerbread Man remains a common subject for American children's literature into the 21st century. The retellings often omit the original ending ("I am quarter gone... I am half gone... I am three-quarters gone... I am all gone!") and make other changes. In some variations, the fox feigns deafness, drawing the Gingerbread Man closer and closer. Then the fox snatches and devours him. In other versions, the Gingerbread Man halts in his flight at a riverbank, and after accepting the fox's offer to ferry him across, is convinced by the fox to move ever-forward toward the fox's mouth.


title: The Gingerbread Man

text: The character of the runaway food exists in folktales. Folklorist D. L. Ashliman located it across Germany, the British Isles, and Eastern Europe, as well as the United States. Jack Haney also located it in Slavdom and in Northern Europe.


title: The Gingerbread Man

text: In Slavic lands, a traditional character known as Kolobok () is a ball of bread dough who avoids being eaten by various animals (collected by Konstantin Ushinsky in "Native Word (Rodnoye slovo)" in 1864). "The Pancake" ("Pannekaken") was collected by Peter Asbjornsen and Jørgen Moe and published in "Norske Folkeeventyr" (1842-1844), and, ten years later, the German brothers Carl and Theodor Colshorn collected "The Big, Fat Pancake" ("Vom dicken fetten Pfannekuchen") from the Salzdahlum region and published the tale in "Märchen und Sagen", no. 57, (1854). In 1894, Karl Gander collected "The Runaway Pancake" ("Der fortgelaufene Eierkuchen") from an Ögeln cottager and peddler and published the tale in "Niederlausitzer Volkssagen, vornehmlich aus dem Stadt- und Landkreise Guben," no. 319. The Roule Galette story is a similar story from France.


title: The Gingerbread Man

text: A variation of this trope is found in the Hungarian tale "The Little Dumpling" ("A kis gömböc"), and contrary to the title the main character is not a dumpling, but the Hungarian version of head cheese (which is referred to as "gömböc" - "dumpling" - in some regions of Hungary). In the tale it is the gömböc that eats the others; it first consumes the family that "made" it, and then, rolling on the road, it eats various others – including a whole army – the last of whom is a swineherd. His knife opens the gömböc from the inside, and the people run home. In another variation the gömböc bursts after eating too many people. A similar Russian tale is called "The Clay-Boy" ("Гли́няный па́рень", "Glínyanyĭ párenʹ"). In it, an old childless couple make themselves a clay-child, who first eats all their food, then them, then a number of people, until he meets a goat who offers to jump right into his mouth, but instead uses the opportunity to ram the Clay-Boy, shattering him and freeing everyone. The Czech folk tale Otesánek (and the 2000 movie with the same name) follows a similar plot.


title: The Gingerbread Man

text: Joseph Jacobs published "Johnny-Cake" in his "English Fairy Tales" (1890), basing his tale on a version found in the "American Journal of Folk-Lore." Jacobs' johnny-cake rolls rather than runs, and the fox tricks him by pretending to be deaf and unable to hear his taunting verse. In "The Wee Bannock" from "More English Fairy Tales" (1894), Jacobs records a Scottish tale with a bannock as hero.


title: The Gingerbread Man

text: The musical "The Gingerbread Man" (music by Alfred Baldwin Sloane, book and lyrics by Frederic G. Ranken) opened on Broadway on Christmas Day 1905 and ran for five months. The massive production then moved to Chicago with most of its New York cast and continued a successful tour of smaller venues in the U.S. for at least another four years. In this show the titular character, a gingerbread man, is named John Dough ("John Dough" being another term for a gingerbread man that was current at the time). While the gingerbread man is not the main character, he was played by crowd favorite Eddie Redway and caught the attention of audiences and critics. The gingerbread man idea was also heavily promoted by the producers: 25,000 dough statuettes were given away in New York City to promote the show. This John Dough had few resemblances to the Gingerbread Man of the 1875 story described above. He claims to be a scapegoat rather than a troublemaker: "They are looking for me high and low, I'm wanted for that, I'm wanted for this, For any old thing that has gone amiss." Ranken's John Dough gingerbread man has few qualms about being eaten; he seems to fear obscurity more: "A little boy buys me with a cent . . . And removes an arm or leg or two, As down his throat I gently float, How can that hopeful know, Unless he is told, That he's stowed in his hold, The original John Dough."


title: The Gingerbread Man

text: L. Frank Baum's "John Dough and the Cherub" (1906) and "The Road to Oz" (1909) also feature a gingerbread man named John Dough. Baum's John Dough is a life-sized creation and scared of being eaten, but he ultimately sacrifices his hand to save a child's life. The Baum 1906 story also helped popularize the meme of the Gingerbread Man, although Baum's tale, like Ranken's, contained few elements of the original story.


title: The Gingerbread Man

text: Some tales have settings and cultural connections beyond Europe, such as Eric Kimmel's "The Runaway Tortilla" (2000) about a desert-roving tortilla who avoids donkeys, rattlesnakes, and buckaroos only to be defeated by crafty Señor Coyote; the Hanukkah version called "The Runaway Latkes" (2000) by Leslie Kimmelman; and Ying Chang Compestine's Chinese New Year tale, "The Runaway Rice Cake" (2001). Peter Armour's "Stop That Pickle!" (2005) is a tale about a runaway deli pickle. "Marsupial Sue Presents "The Runaway Pancake"" follows a similar plotline about a pancake whose hubris gets the best of him.


title: The Gingerbread Man

text: Modern twists on the tale that retain a gingerbread man as the protagonist include Janet Squires' "The Gingerbread Cowboy", "The Gingerbread Kid Goes to School" (2002) by Joan Holub, and Lisa Campbell's "The Gingerbread Girl" (2006). In 1992 Jon Sciezka published "The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales". "The Stinky Cheese Man" is a rendition of "The Gingerbread Man" where the stinky cheese man runs away from everyone fearing that they will eat him, when really everyone just wants to get away from his smell. In 2018, Stephen Dixon published a sequel entitled "The Gingerbread Man 2: What Happened Later?". "The Gingerbread Baby" by Jan Brett is a version of the tale where the gingerbread man escapes from the fox and goes on to live in a gingerbread house.


title: The Gingerbread Man

text: The tale was used by The Residents in their 1994 album "Gingerbread Man". Here, the gingerbread man serves as the narrator, introducing the characters in each song.


title: The Gingerbread Man

text: The Korean mobile game series "Cookie Run" is inspired by this fairy tale. The British video game "Ninjabread Man" also features a sentient Gingerbread Man.


title: The Gingerbread Man

text: The Gingerbread Man is a dangerous criminal in the Jasper Fforde Nursery Crimes series and the main antagonist in the second novel in this series, "The Fourth Bear".


title: The Gingerbread Man

text: The book "The Hypnotizer" by Michael Rosen includes a story, which was also published on YouTube in 2008, called "fast food," which follows a similar plot but with a hamburger replacing the gingerbread man.


title: The Gingerbread Man

text: A happy-ending Gingerbread Man book "The True Story of the Gingerbread Man" was published in 2019 by Allen Kitchen with illustrations by Funda Girgin.


title: The Gingerbread Man

text: The Gingerbread Man is notably parodied throughout the "Shrek" franchise, where he is a recurring character voiced by Conrad Vernon.


title: The Gingerbread Man

text: American rapper Nardo Wick sampled The Gingerbread Man song in his song "Dah Dah DahDah" from the deluxe version of the debut studio album, "Who Is Nardo Wick?".


title: Wang Jian (Qin)

text: Wang Jian ( 220s BC) was a Chinese military general from the State of Qin during the Warring States period. Under his command, the Qin army conquered the states of Zhao, Yan, and Chu. He is considered one of the four greatest generals of the late Warring States period, along with Bai Qi, Lian Po and Li Mu.


title: Wang Jian (Qin)

text: Wang was born in Dongxiang, Pinyang, Guanzhong (north-east of modern Fuping County, Shaanxi province). His son, Wang Ben (), was also a Qin general.


title: Wang Jian (Qin)

text: In 236 BC, Wang Jian commanded the Qin army which attacked Zhao and captured nine cities. This action represented the start of King of Qin, Ying Zheng's wars of unification. The Kingdom of Zhao ceased to exist in 228 BC after Wang Jian used spies in the Zhao court to have Zhao's leading general Li Mu replaced and then he captured Zhao's king.


title: Wang Jian (Qin)

text: According to the Grand Historian, after Jing Ke failed in his attempt to assassinate emperor Qin Shi Huang, the Kingdom of Yan where Jing Ke was a retainer, was conquered by General Wang Jian in 226 BC. A year later, Wang Jian's son Wang Ben conquered the Kingdom of Wei.


title: Wang Jian (Qin)

text: In 225 BC, only two kingdoms (states) remained independent: Chu and Qi. Chu had recovered significantly enough to mount serious resistance after their disastrous defeats to Qin in 278 BC and losing their centuries-old capital of Ying (Jingzhou). Despite its territorial size, resources and manpower, Chu's fatal flaw was its largely corrupt government that mostly overturned the legalistic-style reforms of Wu Qi from a century and a half earlier, when Wu Qi transformed Chu into the most powerful state with an area of almost half of all the other states combined. Wu Qi was from the same state (Wei) as Shang Yang, whose legalistic reforms turned Qin into an invincible war machine.


title: Wang Jian (Qin)

text: The King of Qin, Ying Zheng (later became Qin Shi Huang), decided to finally defeat the remnants of the Chu state located in Huaiyang. According to Shiji's chapter on the great generals of the Warring States, Ying Zheng had first requested his general Wang Jian to lead the invasion, and further inquired as to the military strength needed for the siege. Wang Jian stated that he needed a force of 600,000 men for the invasion. However, when the same question was posed to general Li Xin, he requested only 200,000 men. Ying Zheng accepted Li Xin's advice and appointed him commander in chief of a 200,000 army with general Meng Tian as second in command. Wang Jian decided to retire, claiming ill health. The first Qin invasion initially appeared successful but ended up in a major disaster when the 200,000 Qin army was annihilated by a combined attack of 500,000 Chu troops led by General Xiang Yan and another army under the direct command of Lord Changping, at the Battle of Chengfu in the unfamiliar territory of Huaiyang (modern-day northern Jiangsu and Anhui provinces). Ying Zheng recalled Wang Jian, who finally agreed to lead the second invasion force after being allocated the force of 600,000 men that he had earlier requested.


title: Wang Jian (Qin)

text: Before the campaign, during a personal meeting with the Qin king in the send-off ceremony, Wang Jian purposely demand huge rewards for the future victories in a deliberately shameless way. Wang repeated such actions several times later during the campaign. He later explained to his men that the Qin king is always distrustful towards his subordinates, especially Wang Jian who were in command of a huge army - a convenient mean to start a revolt against the king at any time. Therefore Wang had to placate the king by making such shameless demands as a way to show that Wang only had petty material desires and did not dream of the throne.


title: Wang Jian (Qin)

text: In 224 BC, Wang Jian began the second invasion of Chu. Chu's morale had greatly increased after their success the previous year. The Chu forces were content to wait and defend their territory. Wang Jian tricked the Chu army by appearing inactive within his fortifications while secretly training his troops to fight in Chu territory. After a year, Chu decided to disband most of their army due to the lack of action. Wang Jian then invaded and overran Huaiyang and the remaining Chu forces. Xiang Yan, the Chu general and Lord of Wu'an, managed to resist the onslaught of Wang Jian and the Qin forces, even though Wang Jian eventually started to take control of the battlefield, both armies inflicted heavy losses on each other during their fierce clash, Xiang Yan was finally defeated by Wang Jian at the battle of Shouchun 壽春 (modern Shouxian 壽縣, Anhui), and withdrew to Qinan 蘄南 (modern Suzhou 宿州, Anhui), where he was killed in battle or committed suicide, and Lord Changping (the last King of Chu) was killed by Wang Jian's second in command, Qin general Meng Wu, father of Meng Tian and Meng Yi. After these events, Chu was then conquered by Qin in 223 BC.


title: Wang Jian (Qin)

text: At their peak, the armies of Chu and Qin combined numbered over 1,000,000 troops, more than the massive campaign at Changping between Qin and Zhao 35 years earlier. The excavated personal letters of two Qin regular soldiers, Hei Fu () and Jin (), records a protracted campaign in Huaiyang under general Wang Jian. Both soldiers wrote letters requesting supplies (clothing) and money from home to sustain the long campaign.


title: Wang Jian (Qin)

text: Wang Jian's son Wang Ben continued Qin's military conquest against Yan, Dai, and then Qi, ending the Warring States period (221 BCE). Ben's son, Wang Li, served as a subordinate of Meng Tian at the northern borders, then served under Zhang Han during Zhang's punitive campaigns against the revolts at the end of Qin dynasty. Li was probably captured and killed at the Battle of Julu, although neither Records of the Grand Historian nor Book of Han mentioned his fate after the battle.


title: Wang Jian (Qin)

text: The Wang clans of Langya and Taiyuan were probably descendants of Wang Jian from other siblings of Wang Li.


title: Wang Jian (Qin)

text: In Manga and Anime Kingdom where he is known as "Ou Sen" the Head of the Ou family, he's a silent and gifted tactician with a calm and collected attitude, possessing a remarkable intellect for warfare, making him one of the top strategists and Generals, and for his great accomplishments he was appointed by the King "Ei Sei" as one of the new "Qin Six Great Generals", in order to achieve the unification of China.


title: Bloch sphere

text: In quantum mechanics and computing, the Bloch sphere is a geometrical representation of the pure state space of a two-level quantum mechanical system (qubit), named after the physicist Felix Bloch.


title: Bloch sphere

text: Quantum mechanics is mathematically formulated in Hilbert space or projective Hilbert space. The pure states of a quantum system correspond to the one-dimensional subspaces of the corresponding Hilbert space (and the "points" of the projective Hilbert space). For a two-dimensional Hilbert space, the space of all such states is the complex projective line formula_1 This is the Bloch sphere, which can be mapped to the Riemann sphere.


title: Bloch sphere

text: The Bloch sphere is a unit 2-sphere, with antipodal points corresponding to a pair of mutually orthogonal state vectors. The north and south poles of the Bloch sphere are typically chosen to correspond to the standard basis vectors formula_2 and formula_3, respectively, which in turn might correspond e.g. to the spin-up and spin-down states of an electron. This choice is arbitrary, however. The points on the surface of the sphere correspond to the pure states of the system, whereas the interior points correspond to the mixed states. The Bloch sphere may be generalized to an "n"-level quantum system, but then the visualization is less useful.


title: Bloch sphere

text: For historical reasons, in optics the Bloch sphere is also known as the Poincaré sphere and specifically represents different types of polarizations. Six common polarization types exist and are called Jones vectors. Indeed Henri Poincaré was the first to suggest the use of this kind of geometrical representation at the end of 19th century, as a three-dimensional representation of Stokes parameters.


title: Bloch sphere

text: The natural metric on the Bloch sphere is the Fubini–Study metric. The mapping from the unit 3-sphere in the two-dimensional state space formula_4 to the Bloch sphere is the Hopf fibration, with each ray of spinors mapping to one point on the Bloch sphere.


title: Bloch sphere

text: Given an orthonormal basis, any pure state formula_5 of a two-level quantum system can be written as a superposition of the basis vectors formula_2 and formula_3, where the coefficient of (or contribution from) each of the two basis vectors is a complex number. This means that the state is described by four real numbers. However only the relative phase between the coefficients of the two basis vectors has any physical meaning (the phase of the quantum system is not directly measurable), so that there is redundancy in this description. We can take the coefficient of formula_2 to be real and non-negative. This allows the state to be described by only three real numbers, giving rise to the three dimensions of the Bloch sphere.


title: Bloch sphere

text: formula_5 is one of the states (see Bra-ket notation) formula_2 or formula_3, the point represented by formula_19 and formula_15 is unique.


title: Bloch sphere

text: The parameters formula_21 and formula_22, re-interpreted in spherical coordinates as respectively the colatitude with respect to the "z"-axis and the longitude with respect to the "x"-axis, specify a point


title: Bloch sphere

text: For mixed states, one considers the density operator. Any two-dimensional density operator can be expanded using the identity and the Hermitian, traceless Pauli matrices formula_25,


title: Bloch sphere

text: It is this vector that indicates the point within the sphere that corresponds to a given mixed state. Specifically, as a basic feature of the Pauli vector, the eigenvalues of are formula_28. Density operators must be positive-semidefinite, so it follows that formula_29.


title: Bloch sphere

text: As a consequence, the surface of the Bloch sphere represents all the pure states of a two-dimensional quantum system, whereas the interior corresponds to all the mixed states.


title: Bloch sphere

text: The Bloch vector formula_31 can be represented in the following basis, with reference to the density operator formula_32:


title: Bloch sphere

text: This basis is often used in laser theory, where formula_37 is known as the population inversion. In this basis, the numbers formula_38 are the expectations of the three Pauli matrices formula_39, allowing one to identify the three coordinates with x y and z axes.


title: Bloch sphere

text: Consider an "n"-level quantum mechanical system. This system is described by an "n"-dimensional Hilbert space "H". The pure state space is by definition the set of 1-dimensional rays of "H".


title: Bloch sphere

text: Theorem. Let U("n") be the Lie group of unitary matrices of size "n". Then the pure state space of "H" can be identified with the compact coset space


title: Bloch sphere

text: To prove this fact, note that there is a natural group action of U("n") on the set of states of "H". This action is continuous and transitive on the pure states. For any state formula_5, the isotropy group of formula_5, (defined as the set of elements formula_43 of U("n") such that formula_44) is isomorphic to the product group


title: Bloch sphere

text: In linear algebra terms, this can be justified as follows. Any formula_43 of U("n") that leaves formula_5 invariant must have formula_5 as an eigenvector. Since the corresponding eigenvalue must be a complex number of modulus 1, this gives the U(1) factor of the isotropy group. The other part of the isotropy group is parametrized by the unitary matrices on the orthogonal complement of formula_5, which is isomorphic to U("n" − 1). From this the assertion of the theorem follows from basic facts about transitive group actions of compact groups.


title: Bloch sphere

text: is a local homeomorphism from the space of self-adjoint complex matrices to U("n"). The space of self-adjoint complex matrices has real dimension "n".


title: Bloch sphere

text: Let us apply this to consider the real dimension of an "m" qubit quantum register. The corresponding Hilbert space has dimension 2.


title: Bloch sphere

text: i.e., such that formula_58 and formula_59 form a basis and have diametrically opposite representations on the Bloch sphere, then let


title: Bloch sphere

text: If the Bloch sphere is thought of as being embedded in formula_24 with its center at the origin and with radius one, then the plane "z" = 0 (which intersects the Bloch sphere at a great circle; the sphere's equator, as it were) can be thought of as an Argand diagram. Plot point "u" in this plane — so that in formula_24 it has coordinates formula_63.


title: Bloch sphere

text: Draw a straight line through "u" and through the point on the sphere that represents formula_59. (Let (0,0,1) represent formula_58 and (0,0,−1) represent formula_59.) This line intersects the sphere at another point besides formula_59. (The only exception is when formula_68, i.e., when formula_69 and formula_70.) Call this point "P". Point "u" on the plane "z" = 0 is the stereographic projection of point "P" on the Bloch sphere. The vector with tail at the origin and tip at "P" is the direction in 3-D space corresponding to the spinor formula_71. The coordinates of "P" are


title: Bloch sphere

text: Mathematically the Bloch sphere for a two-spinor state can be mapped to a Riemann sphere or a complex 2-dimensional projective Hilbert space, denotable as formula_75. The complex 2-dimensional Hilbert space formula_76 (of which formula_75 is a projection) is a representation space of SO(3).


title: Bloch sphere

text: Formulations of quantum mechanics in terms of pure states are adequate for isolated systems; in general quantum mechanical systems need to be described in terms of density operators. The Bloch sphere parametrizes not only pure states but mixed states for 2-level systems. The density operator describing the mixed-state of a 2-level quantum system (qubit) corresponds to a point "inside" the Bloch sphere with the following coordinates:


title: Bloch sphere

text: where formula_79 is the probability of the individual states within the ensemble and formula_80 are the coordinates of the individual states (on the "surface" of Bloch sphere). The set of all points on and inside the Bloch sphere is known as the "Bloch ball."


title: Bloch sphere

text: For states of higher dimensions there is difficulty in extending this to mixed states. The topological description is complicated by the fact that the unitary group does not act transitively on density operators. The orbits moreover are extremely diverse as follows from the following observation:


title: Bloch sphere

text: Theorem. Suppose "A" is a density operator on an "n" level quantum mechanical system whose distinct eigenvalues are μ, ..., μ with multiplicities "n", ..., "n". Then the group of unitary operators "V" such that "V A V"* = "A" is isomorphic (as a Lie group) to


title: Bloch sphere

text: It is possible to generalize the construction of the Bloch ball to dimensions larger than 2, but the geometry of such a "Bloch body" is more complicated than that of a ball.


title: Bloch sphere

text: A useful advantage of the Bloch sphere representation is that the evolution of the qubit state is describable by rotations of the Bloch sphere. The most concise explanation for why this is the case is that the Lie algebra for the group of unitary and hermitian matrices formula_83 is isomorphic to the Lie algebra of the group of three dimensional rotations formula_84.


title: Bloch sphere

text: If formula_86 is a real unit vector in three dimensions, the rotation of the Bloch sphere about this axis is given by:


title: Bloch sphere

text: An interesting thing to note is that this expression is identical under relabelling to the extended Euler formula for quaternions.


title: Bloch sphere

text: Ballentine presents an intuitive derivation for the infinitesimal unitary transformation. This is important for understanding why the rotations of Bloch spheres are exponentials of linear combinations of Pauli matrices. Hence a brief treatment on this is given here. A more complete description in a quantum mechanical context can be found here.


title: Bloch sphere

text: Consider a family of unitary operators formula_89 representing a rotation about some axis. Since the rotation has one degree of freedom, the operator acts on a field of scalars formula_90 such that:


title: Bloch sphere

text: Where formula_100 is any Hermitian transformation, and is called the generator of the unitary family.


title: Bloch sphere

text: Since the Pauli matrices formula_102 are unitary Hermitian matrices and have eigenvectors corresponding to the Bloch basis, formula_103, we can naturally see how a rotation of the Bloch sphere about an arbitrary axis formula_104 is described by


title: Wang Yang (politician)

text: Wang Yang (; Pinyin: Wāng Yáng; born 5 March 1955) is a Chinese politician who is the outgoing chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Previously, Wang was one of the four vice premiers of China in premier Li Keqiang's Cabinet between 2013 and 2018. Until December 2012, he served as the Communist Party secretary of Guangdong, the province's top political office. He served as the Communist Party secretary of Chongqing, an interior municipality, from 2005 to 2007. Wang also held a seat on the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party from 2007 to 2022, and the Politburo Standing Committee from 2017 to 2022.


title: Wang Yang (politician)

text: Wang was born in Suzhou, Anhui, to an ordinary urban working-class family. His father was a manual labourer. Between 1972 and 1976, he worked as a food processing factory hand before being promoted to supervisor. He joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1975. He subsequently joined the local Party School as an instructor, before going on to study political economics at the dawn of Deng Xiaoping's economic reforms at the Central Party School in 1979. He returned to his hometown as a party policy instructor before joining the local Communist Youth League organization – where he would ascend to the provincial organization by 1984. He then moved on to work as the Deputy Director and Director of the Anhui Provincial Sports Bureau until 1988.


title: Wang Yang (politician)

text: His first tenure with civil administration was in Tongling, Anhui, beginning in 1988. He would serve on the municipal administration as its deputy party secretary, acting mayor, and mayor, while also concurrently attempting to earn a degree in political administration at the Central Party School. He would rise to become the provincial Governor's assistant the following year, and promoted to Vice-Governor of Anhui between 1993 and 1998. He was finally sent to work in the central government as the deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission, and then as deputy secretary general of the State Council between 2003 and 2005, in charge of the day-to-day administrative work of the State Council General Office.


title: Wang Yang (politician)

text: Wang served as the Party Committee Secretary in Chongqing, a western interior municipality, from 2005 to 2007. Wang's track record in Chongqing earned him national attention, for his work of bringing a geographically remote and relatively underdeveloped region onto the international scene. In Chongqing, Wang won praise for handling a sensitive urban demolition case. He was also the pioneer of media reforms in the municipality. Since 1 January 2007, Chongqing media no longer gave priority to the activities of the city's municipal leaders in daily news broadcasts, instead focusing on stories about ordinary people, which resulted in an increase of coverage about agriculture, rural life and rural migrant workers.


title: Wang Yang (politician)

text: In 2007, Wang was succeeded as Chongqing party secretary by Bo Xilai. After taking Wang's place, Bo orchestrated a sweeping campaign against alleged local gangsters. Political observers noted that Bo's "crime"-fighting efforts were implicitly critical of Wang Yang, since Wang may now be criticized for tolerating the "mafia"-related corruption of the police and judiciary of Chongqing, and for tolerating organized crime in general. Bo Xilai was subsequently arrested for a variety of charges and sentenced to life imprisonment, and official evaluation of his "crime"-fighting campaign recognizes that it encompassed gross violations of civil rights, with almost 1,000 people sent to labor camps, and served to a large extent as a tool for Bo Xilai to consolidate power and take over economic resources.


title: Wang Yang (politician)

text: As part of a party-wide reshuffle of regional leaders, Wang Yang was slated to become Party Committee Secretary of Guangdong after the 17th Party Congress. He took on the post formally in November 2007. As the post was considered one of the most important regional leadership offices in China, he also earned a seat on the Communist Party's Politburo, the country's second-highest ruling council. Wang's entry to the Politburo came as a surprise to some observers, given that prior to 2007, he had not even held full membership in the Central Committee, a larger body composed of around 200 members consisting mostly of provincial- and minister-level party officials.


title: Wang Yang (politician)

text: In Guangdong, Wang increasingly branded himself as a bold reformer. He was instrumental in pushing Guangdong province, already dubbed China's "breeding ground of reform", towards even greater economic and political freedoms. Additionally, Wang sought to diversify the province's economy away from manufacturing, and make Shenzhen an innovation hub for China's new economy. Wang's unique leadership style set him apart from normally colourless and risk-averse provincial administrators who parrot the party line. He was often compared to Bo Xilai by political observers, as both Wang and Bo were seen as rising stars of Chinese politics vying for top office. Both held important regional offices that could be used as 'testing grounds' for policies that could eventually be implemented nationally.