Leinster Rugby

Founded	1879; 147 years ago (1879)
Location	Dublin, Ireland
Ground(s)	RDS Arena (Capacity: 20,600) Aviva Stadium (Capacity: 51,700)
Coach	Leo Cullen
Captain	Caelan Doris
Most appearances	Cian Healy (291)
Top scorer	Johnny Sexton (1,646)
Most tries	James Lowe (71)
League	United Rugby Championship
2025–26	League: 2nd Play-offs: Champions Irish Shield: Champions
1st kit 2nd kit 3rd kit
Official website
www.leinsterrugby.ie
Current season

Leinster Rugby (Irish: Rugbaí Laighean) is one of the four professional provincial club rugby union teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the Leinster Branch, one of the four provincial unions that together make up the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), but is not restricted to players from that province.

Leinster play their home games primarily at the 20,600-capacity RDS Arena, 'the RDS' in Dublin. Larger fixtures are played in the 51,700-capacity Aviva Stadium when the capacity of the RDS is insufficient.^[1] Occasional one-off games have been moved to Croke Park, home of the Gaelic Athletic Association and by some distance the largest stadium in Ireland.^[2] Before moving to the RDS in 2005, Leinster's traditional home ground was Donnybrook Stadium, in Dublin 4. The province plays primarily in blue with white or yellow trim and the team crest features a harp within a rugby ball, the harp being an ancient symbol of the province found in and taken from the flag of Leinster, although the traditional colours of Leinster Rugby mean the design more resembles the flag of the president of Ireland or the coat of arms of Ireland.

Leinster turned professional along with its fellow Irish provinces in 1995 and has competed in the United Rugby Championship (formerly known as the Celtic League, Magners League and the Pro12 / Pro14) since it was founded in 2001. Before 1995, the Leinster Branch had previously competed in the annual Irish interprovincial championship.^[3]

During their professional history, Leinster have been the most successful team in Ireland or from the Celtic League and its successors. As of 2026, Leinster have won their domestic title on ten occasions, while topping the regular season table a further five times, and have won as of 2026 all four URC Irish Shields. In Europe, Leinster are second only to Toulouse with four European Champions Cups, one EPRC Challenge Cup and five runners-up placings in the Champions Cup.

Leinster enjoy historical rivalries with all three provincial unions, most notably with Munster, where some games between the teams have been watched by over 80,000 fans in Croke Park. In addition, Leinster have notable rivalries with two French club teams; erstwhile rivals Toulouse with whom they have jockeyed for the title of Europe's most decorated team, and La Rochelle, a frequent opponent in European competition who defeated Leinster in back to back European Champions Cup finals in 2022 and 2023 under the direction of long-time Munster player Ronan O'Gara. In more recent years a rivalry has also developed with the South African Bulls franchise, with the sides meeting twice in three seasons in the semi-final of the United Rugby Championship, before meeting twice in the finals of 2025 and 2026 United Rugby Championships.