Photo via BBC Sport

How Irish provinces are shaping up for new season

The United Rugby Championship is set to restart following a nearly one-hundred-day break, bringing fresh squad updates across the four Irish provinces. Leinster enters the upcoming campaign as reigning champions under head coach Leo Cullen, following a title-clinching victory against the Bulls at Croke Park in June.

Meanwhile, Connacht is working to build upon a late-season surge that secured a playoff berth and a return to the Champions Cup under the direction of Stuart Lancaster. The Galway squad has reinforced its roster by acquiring Ciaran Frawley, Will Connors, and Jerry Cahir from Leinster, alongside the arrival of Francois van Wyk from Bath and the return of winger Mack Hansen.

Lancaster has also adjusted his coaching staff by adding Gerard Mullen as backs coach and Trevor Woodman as scrum coach.