Leinster clash with Exiles moved to Twickenham

Leinster’s Heineken Cup game with London Irish on January 23 has been switched to Twickenham, it was announced today.

The move from Reading’s Madejski Stadium is due to a possible fixture clash.

Reading Football Club, who also play there, will face an FA Cup fourth-round tie at home to Burnley the same weekend if they beat Liverpool in a third-round replay.

London Irish chief executive Andy Martin said: “We’ve had to make a difficult decision to move our sell-out fixture against Leinster to Twickenham Stadium.

“However, we are delighted that more of our fans can now come and support us on what promises to be an excellent evening of top-class rugby.”

If the Exiles beat Leinster, they are likely to reach the Heineken quarter-finals as Pool Six winners.

The game will be the third Heineken Cup pool fixture staged at Twickenham, following Harlequins hosting Munster in 2004/05 and Wasps entertaining Leinster last season.

Both of those fixtures attracted 33,000 crowds.