All four Irish provinces will be on hand to mark the official opening of the new Aviva Stadium next summer. The match, which will see a combined Ulster-Leinster selection take on a side from Munster and Connacht, will take place on August 7th of next year.
It will be the first sporting occasion at the redeveloped 50,000 ground, coming four days before the Republic of Ireland meet Argentina in a soccer friendly.
A meeting of Leinster and Ulster, the first and last sides to meet at the old Lansdowne Road, had been mooted but the IRFU has decided to stage a match involving the four Irish sides to mark the occasion.
“This promises to be a great occasion to open the Aviva Stadium to the Irish rugby public” explained IRFU chief executive Philip Browne this morning.
“It was felt that a combined provinces fixture would be the most appropriate way to do this (open the stadium) providing a look back into the history of the game while also creating a new chapter for Irish rugby,”
The IRFU has already announced that the reigning world champions South Africa will be the first touring side to play at the new venue as part of an expanded autumnal series. New Zealand, Argentina and Samoa are also due in Dublin 4 next November.
Final dates for those matches have yet to be confirmed.
2010 rugby fixtures at the Aviva Stadium
Saturday, August 7th
Connacht/Munster v Leinster/Ulster
Saturday, November 6th
Ireland v South Africa
November 13th/14th
Ireland v Samoa
November 20th/21st
Ireland v New Zealand
November 27th/28th
Ireland v Argentina
