Rugby

Leinster’s season opener to be moved to the Aviva Stadium

First home United Rugby Championship game and Harlequins friendly to be moved

Leinster will play two fixtures at the Aviva Stadium at the start of the new season rather than the RDS. Photograph: Billy Stickland/Inpho

Fri Aug 27 2021 - 12:35

Leinster have confirmed the pre-season friendly with Harlequins on September 10th and the opening home game of the United Rugby Championship (Pro14) will be held at the Aviva Stadium.

The province have more than 12,000 season ticket holders, leading to concerns over housing supporters inside the 18,500 capacity RDS Arena.

The two fixtures will now be moved to the Aviva, which is set to have a 15,000 capacity confirmed in the coming weeks.

Leinster chief executive Mick Dawson said: “There has been a huge amount of progress over the last few months as the country starts to recover from the impact of Covid-19, but the reality is that we are still some way short of normality for a lot of industries, ours included.

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“At this moment in time, with the current restrictions in place and likely to be in place for at least another month, we would be unable to accommodate the over 12,000 Season Ticket Holders that have committed to us for the season ahead in the RDS Arena.

“Until we can guarantee their tickets, it is very difficult to commit to games at the RDS Arena and we hope by announcing this decision now it gives clarity to supporters who might have been concerned about their purchase with the season less than a month away.

“It is important for me to also acknowledge the help and co-operation of the RDS, who have been hugely understanding of our financial situation, and also the IRFU and the Aviva Stadium who have worked very hard with us on the fixtures and the dates.

“It should be noted that it is very much our intention to return to the RDS Arena when we can accommodate all of our season ticket holders but right now, with Covid-19 restrictions still very much a feature of the immediate sporting landscape we felt it was the right decision to take and crucially secures us much needed revenue after a very challenging 20 months.”

Any tickets remaining after season ticket holders have been offered first refusal will be available on general sale priced at €20 for adults and €10 for children.

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