Leinster Rugby Squad Announcement

Scotland international lock Nathan Hines has signed a two-year deal with the Heineken Cup champions and he arrives from Perpignan where his form prompted a call up to the recent British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa.

Hines will be joined by Ireland tight-head prop Mike Ross (Harlequins) and Australian back Shaun Berne (Bath) who have each agreed two year deals with the province. Hooker Richardt Strauss, 23, has also agreed a deal with the province and joins from the Cheetahs.

The quartet will join Ireland international scrum-half Eoin Reddan who had previously signed a three-year deal from London Wasps.

Meanwhile, scrum-half Paul O'Donohoe, who made four senior appearances last season, and hooker Jason Harris-Wright have both been awarded their first professional contracts and are the latest graduates from the Leinster Academy.

Leo Cullen will continue as captain after guiding the province to the Heineken Cup title last season, while there is one remaining vacancy in the playing squad.

Out-half/centre SHAUN BERNE was born on 8th January 1979 and joins from Bath where he enjoyed two successful spells (between 1999-2001 and 2006-09). In total he made 119 appearances for Bath in all competitions (totalling 282 points), including 27 European caps. An older brother of former Leinster centre Michael, the Sydney born back was capped on five occasions by Australia 'A'. He made 38 Super 12 appearances for the NSW Waratahs, scoring 57 points (including 6 tries) between 2003-06. He also represented Australia Under-21 on two occasions in 1999 and the Barbarians in 2000.

Shaun Berne said: "Having been at Bath for the last three years I felt that now was the right time for a new start and a fresh challenge and I'm delighted to join Leinster. Michael was my coach at Randwick and I'm looking forward to working with him again, but even before the Heineken Cup success in May I was sold on his ambition for the club.

"Obviously now that Leinster are the European champions, it has increased my desire to be a part of a successful team. My brother Michael speaks very highly of Leinster from his time here and he told me that it was a club that was going places. I am excited to be a part of that now and I'm looking forward to the start of the season."

NATHAN HINES hails from Wagga Wagga, New South Wales and was born on 29th November 1976. He qualifies for Scotland through his maternal grandfather and he has made 58 international appearances since making his debut in 2000. Between 1999-2005 he played with Edinburgh 52 times in all competitions (including 25 caps in the Heineken Cup) before moving to Perpignan in the 2005/06 season where he made 90 Top 14 appearances (19 in the Heineken Cup). Hines, who has also represented Scotland 'A' on eight occasions, played five times on the 2009 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa.

Nathan Hines said: "I'm really excited about the opportunity to join a Leinster side that are coming off the back of a successful past few seasons. When I was with Edinburgh I knew how good a side Leinster were. The games were always hugely competitive and those tussles certainly left a mark.

"Leinster were always a good side but the Magners League and Heineken Cup successes in recent years have bred a new culture and I am determined to work hard and try and become a part of this successful team. There's a real determination in the squad to push on in both competitions and I'm looking forward to improving my game. I see this new challenge as a dream move and my family are looking forward to starting our new life in Ireland."

Ireland tight-head prop MIKE ROSS joins from Harlequins where he made 78 appearances, including 16 caps in Europe, between 2006-09. Born in Cork on 21st December 1979, Ross was an All-Ireland Cup winner with Cork Con in 2005/06 before moving to Harlequins where he was a standout performer in the Guinness Premiership over the last three seasons. Having made nine Ireland 'A' appearances (2007-09), Ross made his first senior international appearances in the victories over Canada and the USA on the 2009 summer tour to North America.

Mike Ross said: "I'm very pleased to be joining Leinster at what is a hugely exciting time for the province. Leinster are a successful team with a strong winning culture and they have proven that over the last few years. It is an incredible opportunity for me to come back to play in Ireland but I know that the competition will be intense to get into the starting line-up with CJ (van der Linde) and Stan (Wright) here already.

"It's a challenge that I'm looking forward to and hopefully I can build on my two Ireland appearances earlier this summer but first and foremost I will have to work hard to break into the Leinster team. I owe a great deal to Harlequins for the chance that they gave me, but I felt that now was the right time to return to Ireland and I hope that we can go on and bring even more success to Leinster this season."

Leinster will travel to Nice for a week long training camp in the south of France which will include a pre-season friendly against Rugby Nice Cote d'Azur on Friday, 21st August (KO: 7pm, local) before continuing their preparations with a game against London Irish a week later on Friday, 28th August in Donnybrook (KO: 7pm) ahead of the start of the Magners League campaign.

Meanwhile, over 10,600 season ticket holders have signed up to watch Leinster next season in the RDS. The application deadline for this season closes this Friday. Full details of season ticket packages can be found on www.leinsterrugby.ie

Leinster Squad 2009/10 (alphabetical order)...

BACKS: *Shaun Berne, Gordon D'Arcy, Girvan Dempsey, Luke Fitzgerald, Shane Horgan, Chris Keane, Rob Kearney, Simon Keogh, Fergus McFadden, Isa Nacewa, *Paul O'Donohoe, Brian O'Driscoll, Eoin O'Malley, *Eoin Reddan, Jonathan Sexton

FORWARDS: Leo Cullen, John Fogarty, *Jason Harris-Wright, Cian Healy, Jamie Heaslip, *Nathan Hines, Trevor Hogan, Bernard Jackman, Shane Jennings, Stephen Keogh, Ronan McCormack, Kevin McLaughlin, Sean O'Brien, Malcolm O'Kelly, *Mike Ross, *Richardt Strauss, Devin Toner, CJ van der Linde, Stan Wright

Leinster Academy 2009/10: *Andrew Conway, *Mark Flanagan, David Kearney, *Michael Keating, *Brendan Macken, Ian Madigan, *Stewart Maguire, Jack McGrath, Ian McKinley, Shane Monahan, David Moore, Niall Morris, *Ciaran Ruddock, *Rhys Ruddock, *Dominic Ryan, Paul Ryan, Tom Sexton, Eamonn Sheridan, Eoin Sheriff, Kyle Tonetti

*Denotes new addition