Leinster confirm 28 new contracts and 7 players departing province

Leinster Rugby has this morning confirmed 28 new contracts for the 2020/21 season, while also confirming their list of departees.

However, with Covid-19 still impacting on the 2019/20 season, two players have been retained beyond their original contract end-date of June 30th.

Leinster Rugby Head Coach Leo Cullen welcomed the announcement and also acknowledged the unique circumstances facing a number of players.

"We are delighted to be able to confirm the list of 28 contracts today and in particular with so many of them coming through the clubs and the schools of Leinster. A huge amount of work goes in to developing players at all levels of the game so it’s incredibly pleasing for us to have five players promoted directly from our Academy.

"It is always a hugely special day for them, their families and their clubs and schools so I would like to congratulate Ryan (Baird), Harry (Byrne), Jack (Dunne), Tommy (O’Brien) and Dan (Sheehan).

"We are also delighted that Fergus McFadden and Rob Kearney have agreed to stay on for the completion of the 2019/20 Season. Both players have given so much to the team over the course of their careers as “one club” men and hopefully, they can both contribute strongly to the team for the games that we still hope to play out.

"This has also been a challenging time for many players who are leaving clubs as there has been so much uncertainty but we would like to wish all the players leaving Leinster the very best in what is next in their respective careers.

"To Bryan, Barry and Joe from the Senior squad and to Jack, Gavin, Roman and Oisín from the Academy we would like to thank you all for your contribution and effort that you have given the club.

"Our focus now is making sure our training environment is as good and safe as it can be as we look to prepare for the completion of our Guinness PRO14 campaign and of course our eagerly-awaited showdown against Saracens in the Quarter-Final of the Heineken Champions Cup."

Included in the list of 28 is 14 Irish internationals with 301 caps between them, while 23 of the 28 players have come through the Leinster Rugby Academy system.

Leinster Rugby – New Senior Contracts:

1. Vakh Abdaladze, 11 Leinster Caps (LC), 1 Leinster Tries (T)*

2. Ryan Baird, 7 LC, 3 T

3. Michael Bent, 4 Ireland Caps (IC), 135 LC, 4 T

4. Adam Byrne, 1 IC, 57 LC, 20 T

5. Ed Byrne, 52 LC, 7 T

6. Harry Byrne, 9 LC, 2 T

7. Ross Byrne, 6 IC, 84 LC, 5 T

8. Will Connors, 15 LC, 2 T

9. Seán Cronin, 72 IC, 181 LC, 41 T

10. Peter Dooley, 76 LC, 2 T

11. Caelan Doris, 2 IC, 29 LC, 4 T

12. Jack Dunne, 7 LC, 0 T

13. Scott Fardy, 39 Australia Caps (AC), 58 LC, 10 T

14. Jordan Larmour, 24 IC, 46 LC, 12 T

15. Dan Leavy, 11 IC, 63 LC, 14 T

16. James Lowe, 43 LC, 28 T

17. Ross Molony, 95 LC, 3 T

18. Josh Murphy, 32 LC, 2 T

19. Tommy O’Brien, 3 LC, 1 T

20. Rory O’Loughlin, 1 IC, 67 LC, 21 T

21. Rowan Osborne, 4 LC, 1 T

22. Andrew Porter, 26 IC, 62 LC, 9 T

23. Rhys Ruddock, 26 IC, 172 LC, 10 T

24. James Ryan, 26 IC, 37 LC, 2 T**

25. Dan Sheehan, 0 LC, 0 T

26. Devin Toner, 70 IC, 244 LC, 4 T

27. James Tracy, 6 IC, 108 LC, 8 T

28. Josh van der Flier, 26 IC, 80 LC, 9 T

Academy Players Promoted to Senior Squad:

1. Ryan Baird

2. Harry Byrne

3. Jack Dunne

4. Tommy O’Brien

5. Dan Sheehan

Leinster Rugby – Departees:

1. Jack Aungier, 5 LC, 0 T

2. Bryan Byrne, 47 LC, 12 T

3. Barry Daly, 36 LC, 19 T

4. Oisín Dowling, 6 LC, 0 T

5. Gavin Mullin, 2 LC, 0 T

6. Roman Salanoa, 3 LC, 0 T

7. Joe Tomane, 17 AC, 21 LC, 3 T