The IRFU have confirmed that an ‘A’ Interprovincial Championship will return this season, with the opening round of fixtures to take place next month. The format will contain six rounds of matches as the respective interprovincial ‘A’ sides play each other home and away over the course of the season.
The times and dates of the opening three rounds of the Championship before Christmas have been confirmed, with a similar points-scoring system as used in the URC. The Connacht Eagles will host Leinster ‘A’ on Saturday, November 16th at Creggs RFC (kick-off 1pm), and the following Friday, November 22nd, Ulster ‘A’ will play Connacht Eagles at Ballymacaran Park while Leinster ‘A’ entertain Munster ‘A’ at Lakelands Park (5pm).
Further fixtures have been arranged for the ensuing weekends as well as December, while the dates for the post-Christmas fixtures on December 28th/29th will be confirmed in due course.
The IRFU 150 Interprovincial ‘A’ Championship will conclude with back-to-back rounds next May after which a Championship winner will be declared and the IRFU will be commissioning a legacy trophy to mark the 150th-anniversary celebrations.
Those final two rounds will occur after the Energia All-Ireland League final on Sunday, April 28th and the fixtures have been accommodated on weekends with no scheduled AIL fixtures, save for that opening game between the Connacht Eagles and Leinster ‘A’.
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That opening game will take place on the same day that Division 2A leaders Corinthians host second-placed Cashel. The Galway team has had an average age of under-20 this season and has four Connacht Academy players in outhalf Sean Naughton, scrumhalf Tomas Farthing, flanker Max Flynn and centre John Devine.
That Connacht-Leinster game will likely have an effect on some of the Leinster clubs, especially UCD, Terenure, Lansdowne, Clontarf and St Mary’s in 1A.
The IRFU Performance Director David Humphreys commented: “We’re delighted to kick-start the Men’s ‘A’ Interprovincial Championship which will provide a host of players with a further means of developing in a meaningful competition.
“With the success of the Emerging Ireland Tours, coupled with the return of an ‘A’ international against England next year, 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.
“Discussions have been ongoing for some time to provide players with meaningful games and all four provinces are unanimously supportive of this competition. 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.”
The draw for the quarter-finals of the Energia All-Ireland Men’s Junior Cup has been made with the matches scheduled for November 16th.
Cooke, who knocked out the 2020 winners Kilfeacle and District in the opening round, have an Ulster derby away to Enniskillen, the beaten finalists in 2023.
Seapoint, who won the cup back in 2007, are drawn at home to Tullow in an all-Leinster tie while Bective are at home to Connemara and Dromore host Suttonians.
IRFU 150 Interprovincial ‘A’ Championship Fixtures:
Saturday, November 16th: Connacht Eagles v Leinster ‘A’ (Creggs RFC, 1pm)
Friday, November 22nd: Ulster ‘A’ v Connacht Eagles (Ballymacaran Park, 3pm), Leinster ‘A’ v Munster ‘A’ (Lakelands, 5pm)
Friday, November 29th: Munster ‘A’ v Ulster ‘A’ (New Ormond Park, 3pm)
Friday, December 20th: Ulster ‘A’ v Munster ‘A’ (TBC, 3pm)
Saturday, December 21st: Leinster ‘A’ v Connacht Eagles (Ollie Campbell Park, 2pm).
Weekend of December 28/29: Connacht Eagles v Ulster ‘A’ (TBC), Munster ‘A’ v Leinster ‘A’ (TBC).
Weekend of May 9/10: Connacht Eagles v Munster ‘A’ (TBC), Leinster ‘A’ v Ulster ‘A’ (TBC).
Weekend of May 16/17: Munster ‘A’ v Connacht Eagles (TBC), Ulster ‘A’ v Leinster ‘A’ (TBC)
Energia All-Ireland Men’s Junior Cup Quarter Final Draw
Saturday, November 16th (2.30pm unless stated)
Bective Rangers v Connemara, TBC
Enniskillen v Cooke
Dromore v Suttonians
Seapoint v Tullow
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