London Irish to play Munster and Connacht

For the first time in three seasons London Irish will bring its full 31-man professional squad on its pre-season tour to Ireland later this month.

Over the past three seasons international commitments – last year it was the Rugby World Cup - have meant that the touring party was missing key players.

This year’s squad has 12 full internationals including this season’s new signings Mike Catt (England), Peter Poulos (Samoa), Robbie Russell (Scotland) and Scott Staniforth (Australia).

A number of the club’s talented Academy players will also travel.

The tour features games against Munster on Tuesday, 17 August at Thomond Park in Limerick (kick-off 7.00pm) and against Connacht at the Sportsgrounds in Galway on Friday, 20 August (kick-off 6.30pm).

Tickets are available from the offices of Munster and Connacht branches of the IRFU in Limerick and Galway respectively

“The players are looking forward to the tour,” said Gary Gold, London Irish’s head coach.

“We have been training hard over the past seven weeks and the guys now want to measure their progress against one of Europe’s leading teams on its famous home ground. We will be taking both games seriously and intend fielding strong teams.”

London Irish’s first visit to Thomond Park will be used to promote the fund-raising drive for Vincent Culhane, a player with the club’s thriving amateur section who received a serious neck injury while playing in a match in 2002.

Vinny comes from Limerick and played for Shannon before moving to London.

The London Irish touring party will be based at the University of Limerick Sports Complex for the duration of the tour.