Combined provinces match to open Aviva Stadium

THE IRFU have confirmed the first game to be played to mark the opening of the Aviva Stadium will be a composite team from Leinster and Ulster against a selection from Connacht and Munster on July 31st.

Leinster and Ulster were the first representative teams to have played at the old Lansdowne Road almost 133 years ago on December 16th, 1876, and both were also involved in the famous “Last Stand” match on New Year’s Eve 2006, when Leinster beat Ulster 20-12 in a Magners League match.

Following that opening match, Ireland are scheduled to play four internationals in the November series against world champions South Africa, Samoa, New Zealand and Argentina.

“This promises to be a great occasion to open the Aviva Stadium to the Irish rugby public,” said IRFU chief executive Philip Browne.

“It was felt that a combined provinces fixture would be the most appropriate way to do this, providing a look back into the history of the game while also creating a new chapter for Irish rugby.”

On the provincial front, Connacht will face Leinster in the Sportsground next Wednesday, April 21st, in a refixed Magners League match, a fixture important to both provinces.

Connacht still have their eye on the third Heineken Cup slot, and Ulster are only four points ahead of them in the table, while Leinster are looking for a home draw in the league play-offs.

But the refixture gives Connacht an extremely tough run-in to their Challenge Cup semi-final against Toulon, as they face Munster this Sunday, Leinster on Wednesday, and they then travel to Wales on Sunday the 25th to play Scarlets, before meeting the high-flying French team the following weekend.

The province also have a number of injury concerns for this weekend’s meeting with Munster, and coach Michael Bradley has selected a 27-man squad.

The match-day squad will be selected today pending fitness tests on a number of players.

Ray Ofisa and Liam Bibo, however, are both on the long-term injury list and obviously will not be available.

CONNACHT(squad v Munster): Backs: F Carr, G Duffy, E Griffin, I Keatley, T Nathan, M Nikora, K Matthews, F Murphy, C O'Loughlin, N Ta'auso, B Tuohy, A Wynne. Forwards: A Browne, S Cronin, A Flavin, J Hagan, R Loughney, M McCarthy, M McComish, R Morris, J Muldoon, G Naoupu, D Nolan, J O'Connor, M Swift, B Upton, B Wilkinson.