Men’s Interprovincial ‘A’ Series Kicks Off This Weekend
Victorious Leinster 'A' captain Charlie Tector receives the trophy from IRFU Committee member John McKibbin ©INPHO/Andrew Paton
The IRFU Men’s Interprovincial ‘A’ series which was introduced last year to mark the 150th celebrations returns this weekend with reigning champions Leinster in action against Munster at Ollie Campbell Park.
Leinster ‘A’ won the title decider away to their Ulster counterparts, as they were crowned inaugural winners of the IRFU 150 ‘A’ Men’s Interprovincial Championship in May, to finish with five wins out of six. Ulster were runners up with Munster third and Connacht in fourth place.
This season the championship will run over six rounds spread across the season with each team playing three home and three away matches.
Speaking about the introduction of the tournament last year IRFU High Performance Director David Humphreys said,
“The Men’s ‘A’ Interprovincial Championship will provide a host of players with a further means of developing in a meaningful competition. It is vital that we continue to provide players at provincial and Club levels with opportunities to impress outside of the traditional URC and EPCR fixture windows.
It is also great to see provinces taking matches around their local Clubs. It is anticipated that as the competition progresses over the coming seasons these fixtures won’t clash with Energia All-Ireland League fixtures for the most part, thus potentially also offering players from the Club game with an opportunity to impress.
“This competition will form another important part of the representative pathway from Energia AIL to URC levels for Academy players upwards over the coming seasons.”
Round 1
Saturday 18th October – Leinster A v Munster A (Ollie Campbell Park 12:00 noon Kick off)
Friday 21st November – Ulster A v Connacht Eagles (Palace Grounds, City of Armagh RFC, 15:00)
Round 2
Friday 19th December – Connacht Eagles v Ulster A (Dexcom Stadium 2pm Kick off)
Friday 19th December – Munster A v Leinster A (Rockwell College 4G pitch – time tbc)
Round 3
Saturday 3rd January – Leinster A v Connacht A UCD (Belfield 2pm Kick off)
Friday 13th February – Munster A v Ulster A (Venue & Time tbc)
Round 4
Friday 13th February – Connacht A v Leinster A (Dexcom Stadium 2pm Kick off)
Ulster A v Munster A (Affidea Stadium, 15:00)
Round 5
Friday 1st – May Connacht Eagles v Munster A (Dexcom Stadium 2pm Kick off)
Friday 1st – May – Leinster A v Ulster A (Venue/Time tbc)
Round 6
Ulster A v Leinster A (Date/Venue/Time tbc)
Friday 8th May – Munster A v Connacht Eagles (Venue/Time tbc)