The Celtic Cup returns in August as the joint IRFU/WRU development competition looks to build on the value it delivered to young players in the performance pathway last season.
A host of players across all four provinces used the competition as a springboard to advance their claims for exposure at provincial senior level while others would go on to play a central role in Ireland’s U20 Six Nations Grand Slam success.
The Leinster Rugby ‘A’ team will begin their Celtic Cup title defence away to Cardiff Blues on the weekend of 23/24/25 August.
The ‘A’ team went unbeaten in last season’s Celtic Cup competition winning all six games and then the final away to Scarlets ‘A’ at Parc y Scarlets.
In a change to last year’s format, this year’s Celtic Cup is a straight league format with each team playing seven games and the top two ranked sides advancing to the final on Saturday, 12 October.
There will be three rounds of Interprovincial derbies with Leinster travelling to Munster in Round 3, hosting Ulster the following weekend, and then visiting Galway in the final round of league fixtures.
Celtic Cup Fixtures
23-25 August
Cardiff Blues v Leinster
Munster v Ospreys
Scarlets v Ulster
Connacht v Dragons
30 Aug – 1 Sep
Leinster v Scarlets
Dragons v Munster
Ulster v Cardiff Blues
Ospreys v Connacht
6-8 September
Munster v Leinster
Ulster v Connacht
Cardiff Blues v Dragons
Scarlets v Ospreys
13-15 September
Connacht v Munster
Leinster v Ulster
Dragons v Scarlets
Ospreys v Cardiff Blues
20-22 September
Ospreys v Leinster
Munster v Cardiff Blues
Dragons v Ulster
Connacht v Scarlets
27-29 September
Leinster v Dragons
Scarlets v Munster
Ulster v Ospreys
Cardiff Blues v Connacht
4-6 October
Connacht v Leinster
Ulster v Munster
Cardiff Blues v Scarlets
Dragons v Ospreys
Saturday, 12 October
Celtic Cup Final
