Leinster To Play Canada As Part Of Pre-Season Schedule
Leinster are hoping to retain their Heineken Champions Cup and GUINNESS PRO14 titles over the final few weeks of the current season ©INPHO/Matteo Ciambelli
Leinster Rugby have announced that the province will face the Canada national team in a pre-season friendly on Saturday, August 24 at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ontario.
The stadium is the home of the Hamilton TigerCats of the Canadian Football League and Forge FC of the Canadian Premier Soccer League. The venue will be set to a capacity of 14,245 with an ability to expand if required, however, fans are encouraged to buy their tickets early via rugby.ca to avoid missing out.
Leinster head coach Leo Cullen, who is in the midst of preparing the squad for Saturday’s Heineken Champions Cup final against Saracens, commented: “As a province, this will be the first time we have travelled to Canada for our pre-season preparations.
“We’re looking forward to the visit and the challenge of taking on a full international side which we haven’t done in quite some time. It will be an excellent opportunity for a number of our players to get some great experience ahead of the 2019/20 season.”
The game will form a part of Canada’s own preparations for the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan where they will face Italy, New Zealand, South Africa and Namibia in Pool B.
Canada head coach Kingsley Jones said: “This fixture is crucially important for our preparation for the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Leinster are one of the top clubs in all of Europe – they will bring a wealth of experience and provide high-quality opposition for us as we build towards facing Italy on September 26. The rugby community has continued to support our journey to the World Cup, and I look forward to a large home crowd for this match.”
Tickets for the Canada v Leinster fixture will go on sale at 10am eastern time (Canada)/3pm Irish time on Wednesday, May 29 via rugby.ca.