Josh signs new senior contract with Leinster

FORMER Wicklow RFC underage player Josh van der Flier is one of 28 players who have signed on to new senior contracts with Leinster Rugby, the province announced last week.

On Thursday, Leinster published a list of 28 names who had been offered extensions on their current deals, with a further five men promoted from the academy squad to the senior fold.

Van der Flier is one such individual who has signed a fresh contract, with the 27-year-old extending his time with the province for a further two years. The Wicklow-native flanker has so far earned 80 caps since his debut against Zebre in October 2014, and has scored nine tries in the meantime.

Meanwhile, since his first Irish cap in 2016, van der Flier has played 26 times for Ireland

In a statement accompanying the news, Leinster head coach, Leo Cullen, said: ‘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.

‘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.’