Hugo Keenan celebrates engagement to long-time partner after proposal

Hugo Keenan has announced the joyful news of his engagement to his long-term girlfriend.

The Irish rugby player has been in a relationship with partner Emma Hempenstall for several years. The duo tend to keep their personal life private, though she's frequently been seen cheering him on at Irish rugby fixtures throughout their time together.

Sharing the announcement on Instagram, the couple posted a photograph of themselves as Emma displayed the engagement ring. "11/9/26," they captioned it.

The comments section flooded with well-wishes, reports RSVP Live, with one user commenting: "Ahhh congratulations guys."

"Congratulations guys! ! ! So happy for you," someone else enthused.

Another added: "Massive congrats to the both of you!".

"Huge congratulations Hugo and Emma," a further follower posted.

This follows last year's news that the Leinster ace revealed the pair had purchased their first property together in November.

"Her dad has been absolutely brilliant," Hugo told the Irish Independent at the start of the year. "He's a carpenter by trade, but has been in the building industry for 30 to 40 odd years and has done a good bit to the house.

"I had to move home because our house wasn't ready. My mother was taking care of me then. Emma's been great the last couple of weeks as I've increased my load."

Prior to that, he shared accommodation with his Ireland and Leinster colleagues Caelan Doris and Ronan Kelleher. In a conversation last summer with The Irish Sun, he disclosed, "The lads are good craic and we get on well. There is other stuff besides rugby. It's not like rugby is dominating the chat at all.

"We sometimes speak about rugby - when you get home it's normally not completely done - and we might be reviewing training so you are on your iPads or laptops or whatever."

Hugo seldom discusses his personal life in public, though he has occasionally opened up about Emma.

Chatting to the Irish Independent about his time off last year, Hugo revealed, "It's nice, (we've) got a couple of days off, so I'll chill with my girlfriend and catch up with my parents."

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