Leinster Rugby Head Coach Leo Cullen attended a training evening at Tallaght RFC where he shared tips and stories with players from teams from U-11s to senior. As part of the visit Cullen also donated match tickets and a signed winning URC jersey to the club to use for fundraising initiatives Photo by Sportsfile
Leinster face Cardiff in Tallaght Stadium
LEINSTER are set to play in Tallaght Stadium on Saturday as preparations for the new season pit them against Cardiff in a friendly game.
Normally the primary home of Shamrock Rovers there have been a couple of instances where Rugby has been played over the years in Tallaght Stadium though these cases have admittedly been sparingly.
The venue has played host to Leinster Senior Cup games as well as other pre season friendlies Leinster have been involved in over the years such as against Gloucester in the 2016/17 season.
This upcoming game has caused some controversy with the Shamrock Rovers Ladies team being drawn in a home tie to play Athlone Town in the FAI Cup semi final on the same day as the game against Cardiff.
While the Leinster match is set to take place at 3pm in the afternoon and the match against Athlone won’t be kicking off until later on that evening, naturally the pitch would be in no condition to be played on immediately after a game of Rugby and because Leinster have booked the time slot months in advance it seems that the Ladies team will now play at 2pm in Tallaght Stadium on Sunday.
Tallaght Stadium will host Leinster and Cardiff in a friendly on Saturday
In regards to the recent history between Cardiff and Leinster, Leo Cullen’s team have been of course the more dominant team.
Winning the URC last year, the two sides last met in March at the Aviva where Leinster would run out 42-24 winners.
Cardiff would finish just outside the play off zones in ninth place last season in the URC while Leinster won last year’s competition beating the Bulls in the final.
The game against Cardiff comes before their first competitive outing as they travel to South Africa to play the DHL Stormers to defend their URC crown on the 26th of September before taking on the Bulls a week later on October 4.
