MUNSTER’S CLASH WITH Leinster at Thomond Park on St Stephen’s Day has been postponed due to Covid-19 cases in the Leinster squad.
The big festive inter-provincial United Rugby Championship fixture in Limerick will be refixed for a later date for the second season in a row.
Leinster are still dealing with the Covid-19 outbreak that forced the cancellation of their Champions Cup clash with Montpellier last weekend.
An official URC statement this afternoon confirmed that “a number of positive Covid-19 cases within the Leinster squad have been reported by the province.”
“The URC Medical Advisory Group has liaised with the IRFU and Leinster, who are working with the Irish Health Service Executive (HSE) and deemed that the fixture cannot go ahead as scheduled,” continues the URC statement.
“The United Rugby Championship will now consider available dates to reschedule the game.
“At this point, there is no impact on Leinster’s R9 fixture with Ulster, scheduled for Saturday, January 1, 2022.”
The inter-pro game had initially been a 25,600 sellout but Munster were forced to refund over 20,000 of those tickets due to the government imposing new restrictions on attendances at sporting events.
However, the fixture has now been postponed altogether.
Munster season ticket holders will be contacted with options once there is an update on the rescheduled fixture.
Leinster plan to resume training next Tuesday, 28 December, ahead of their clash with Ulster on New Year’s Day.
Munster will continue to follow their planned training schedule for the week, with their next fixture away to Connacht on New Year’s Day.
With additional reporting from Ciarán Kennedy
