For the second year in succession, Leinster’s proposed St Stephen’s Day showdown with arch rivals Munster has been postponed until a later date for Covid related reasons.
A key date on the Irish sporting calendar in pre-pandemic times, Leo Cullen’s side were forced to put their 2020 journey to Limerick on hold after they had some issues with a small number of tests in advance of a much-anticipated interprovincial encounter.
While their outstanding PCR results confirmed that all players and staff had tested negative for Covid-19, those tests weren’t returned in time to meet guidelines set by public health authorities for the game to go ahead.
It had been hoped that they might be able to shake off their more recent issues with Covid - that saw them being forced to concede a 28-0 walkover defeat to Montpellier in the Heineken Champions Cup last Friday - but their latest league meeting with Munster will now be rescheduled for some point in the New Year.
A statement released by the province earlier today read: “It is with regret that Leinster Rugby announces that the United Rugby Championship game against Munster Rugby scheduled for St Stephen’s Day in Thomond Park has been postponed following discussions with Public Health and after consultation with the tournament organisers.
“Leinster Rugby would like to thank the board of the United Rugby Championship, the IRFU, Munster Rugby and the HSE for their understanding and cooperation on this matter.
“Leinster Rugby will resume training next Tuesday, 28 December, at its UCD base and will start preparations for our New Year’s Day game against Ulster Rugby.”
Having seen three players and one staff member testing positive for Covid in the lead-up to their Champions Cup clash with Bath at the Aviva Stadium on December 11th, there were further outbreaks within the Leinster camp ahead of a planned trip to Montpellier six days later.
Despite naming a match day 23 that had tested negative for Covid following several rounds of testing, this game ultimately didn’t take place and their Top 14 opponents were awarded maximum points by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR).
This decision was criticised in many quarters, with Leinster of a mind to appeal, particularly in light of the postponement of games between teams from the UK and France last weekend - owing to travel restrictions imposed by the French Government in a bid to tackle the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
As alluded to in their statement, Leinster’s visit to Ulster in Kingspan Stadium on January 1st is still set to go ahead as things stand. This would be a welcome relief for Cullen and his fellow coaches following a period of severe disruption.
Munster, of course, have had their own issues with Covid but were in a position to field a team for their back-to-back Champions Cup wins over Wasps and Castres.
New restrictions brought in by the Irish Government were going to reduce Thomond Park’s capacity to 5,000 for the Leinster game, but the province’s focus will now switch to a tricky away assignment against Connacht on New Year's Day.
