Leinster Rugby will visit Longford Rugby Club after have announced three public open training sessions in August as preparations begin to ramp up ahead of the start of the 2022/23 United Rugby Championship season.  Longford Rugby Club is to be the venue for the first session with a full loaded Leinster Squad Full on Internationals at 3 PM on August 25th.

The open training sessions will form part of a province-wide tour that Leo Cullen’s squad will undertake over the course of a few days. While many of the sessions will be behind closed doors, there will be three opportunities for the public to meet with Cullen, his coaches and players.

The clubs hosting the open training sessions are Longford RFC on the August 25th and the following day in Kilkenny RFC and Athy RFC.

Commenting on the announcement, Leo Cullen said, “We have all missed the opportunity over the last few years to get out and about and to just meet people, to meet our supporters. That connection between us, as a team, and the supporters is crucial and we have missed that.

“Whether that be visiting our clubs and our schools, or meeting people at games or at open training sessions, there has been a lot of missed opportunities due to Covid. It was important for us as a group and as an organisation to get back to our communities and to see people again and it was also important for us to go to them.

“They have been brilliant with their support at the RDS and Aviva over the years and in particular as we have started to get back to normality last season. We wanted to repay that with a number of visits during the off-season to their clubs and we are really looking forward to it now.

“Three great clubs with huge passion for the game and deeply rooted in their communities and we look forward to seeing as many kids and parents as possible over the two days in CPL Park, in Foulkstown and in the Showgrounds.”

The open training schedule announced by Leinster Rugby is as follows:

• Thursday, 25 August: Longford RFC (3pm)
• Friday, 26 August: Kilkenny RFC (10.30am)
• Friday, 26 August: Athy RFC (10.30am)

Those interested in attending the training sessions are advised to check out the websites of the three clubs for further information.

There will be opportunities for autographs and photography with the players and coaches after the training sessions in all three venues.

The Longford RFC event will not be ticketed so arrive early to see your Leinster and Ireland heroes as the they gear up for the new season.

Log onto www.facebook.com/longfordrugby for updates!