Leinster Pencil In Pre-Season Date With Harlequins

Leinster Rugby and Harlequins have today announced a Bank of Ireland pre-season fixture ahead of the start of the 2021/22 season.

The reigning Guinness PRO14 and Gallagher Premiership champions will face each other on Friday, September 10, with a 7.00pm kick-off.

Details around a venue, spectator numbers and protocols around same will be confirmed closer to the game after consultation with the Department of Sport, by which time further clarity around Covid-19 restrictions will be available.

Harlequins won the Gallagher Premiership last season for the second time ever after a pulsating 40-38 win over defending champions Exeter.

Their squad features a number of current and former internationals and most recently, their young out-half, Marcus Smith, was called up to the British & Irish Lions squad.

Jerry Flannery, the former Munster and Ireland hooker, is also on their coaching team.

As the reigning English champions they were seeded in tier 1 for the Heineken Champions Cup draw and will face Cardiff Blues and Castres Olympique in the pool stages.

Leo Cullen’s Leinster retained the Guinness PRO14 title after a 16-6 victory over Munster at the RDS in March.

As a result of their PRO14 success, Leinster were also seeded as a tier 1 team and have been drawn against Bath and Montpellier for their forthcoming European campaign.

Cullen’s men will kick off their 2021/22 season and the newly-formed United Rugby Championship campaign on the weekend of September 24/25/26. They are already into the first full week of pre-season training at their UCD base.