{"id":234181,"date":"2026-01-08T12:26:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T12:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/234181\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T12:26:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T12:26:09","slug":"tv-details-kick-off-times-and-team-news-with-leinster-and-munster-in-action-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/234181\/","title":{"rendered":"TV details, kick-off times and team news with Leinster and Munster in action \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Who is playing, when and where?<\/p>\n

Leinster<\/a> are playing La Rochelle<\/a> on Saturday at 5.30pm at the Aviva Stadium in the third round of the Champions Cup<\/a> group stage. On Sunday, Munster<\/a> travel to Stade Mayol to play Toulon at 1pm.<\/p>\n

In the Challenge Cup, Ulster and Connacht are in action on Sunday, both away from home. First Connacht travel to the Septeo Stadium to play Montpellier at 1pm, while Ulster go to Amsterdam to play South African side Cheetahs at 3.15pm.<\/p>\n

How can I watch it?<\/p>\n

RT\u00c9 doesn\u2019t have the rights to Champions Cup games, so the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup games will be on Premier Sports, apart from the Ulster game which is on EPCR TV. Otherwise you can follow live updates on The Irish Times Sports website.<\/p>\n

How does the league table look after two games?<\/p>\n

Munster\u2019s pool is exceptionally tight as unusually all six teams have won a game and lost a game so far. Bath lead on six points thanks to an extra bonus point, while Munster are third on points difference after losing to Bath 40-14 but beating Gloucester 31-3. The top two places get a home round of 16 game, while third and fourth get an away match. Fifth goes into the Challenge Cup.<\/p>\n

There is more of a gap in Leinster\u2019s pool, with Leinster winning both games so far, 45-28 against Harlequins and 23-15 against Leicester. Leo Cullen\u2019s team will be focused on finishing in those first two spots for a home last of 16 game, with an eye on seeding for the latter stages.<\/p>\n

Connacht and Ulster are third in their pools after winning and losing a game each so far in the Challenge Cup.<\/p>\n

Are there any tickets left?<\/p>\n

Tickets are still available for the Leinster match against La Rochelle in the Aviva Stadium as Ronan O\u2019Gara\u2019s men come to town. Tickets are available from \u20ac33.25 on Ticketmaster.<\/p>\n

\"ChampionsChampions Cup table: Pool 2 \"ChampionsChampions Cup table: Pool 3 What is the team news?<\/p>\n

Leinster<\/a> confirmed that Robbie Henshaw<\/a> has recovered from the finger injury that forced him off in the first half of his side\u2019s URC win over Munster at Thomond Park. He missed the Connacht game as a result but will be available for selection as the province switches focus to the Champions Cup.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Leinster fizzing with interpro momentum ahead of familiar La Rochelle challengeOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Garry Ringrose<\/a> and RG Snyman<\/a> have returned to training following injury and a decision about their availability will be made later in the week. Outhalf Harry Byrne and tighthead prop Rabah Slimani also have question marks over their fitness. For La Rochelle, Will Skelton played his first game for the home side since November at the weekend, as they beat Toulon 66-0 in the Top 14.<\/p>\n

Following Munster\u2019s defeat to Ulster in Belfast on Friday night, John Hodnett had minor surgery on a thumb injury and his return to play date is to be confirmed.<\/p>\n

Alex Kendellen will undergo a period of rehabilitation with the medical team for an ankle injury and his return to play date is to be confirmed.<\/p>\n

There is good news for Alex Nankivell, who is fit to train after a knock and also for prop Oli Jager (head) as he returns to full team training with his availability to be determined later in the week.<\/p>\n

More news and the team selections will follow later in the week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Who is playing, when and where? Leinster are playing La Rochelle on Saturday at 5.30pm at the Aviva…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":234182,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[32728,28454,61,60,117866,11287,11897,112,31398],"class_list":["post-234181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-champions-cup","tag-connacht-rugby","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-la-rochelle-rugby","tag-leinster-rugby","tag-munster-rugby","tag-sports","tag-ulster-rugby"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234181\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/234182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}