No Red rush as confident Army saves for the future
The failure of the province to sell out its allocation of 13,750 tickets has prompted speculation that many Munster fans are saving their money in anticipation of their team making it to the final of the tournament in Cardiff on May 24.
The Munster branch yesterday released about 800 tickets for Sunday’s match at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry for sale through the Munster Rugby Shop outlets in Limerick and Cork.
Although there were small queues outside both stores at opening time, demand was “brisk but not hectic”, according to a Munster Rugby Shop spokesperson.
About 20 people queued outside the store on Maylor Street in Cork, which restricted sales to two tickets per person, with an even slower trickle of customers in the Limerick outlet on O’Connell Street.
The Munster branch confirmed last night that only 400 tickets were sold between the two stores. A spokesperson also said the unsold tickets had been withdrawn from sale and returned to the tournament organisers.
“There is no problem with people getting tickets for this game. We also believe that Munster fans have also secured tickets from other sources,” said the spokesperson.
While Munster always afford their opposition due respect, it is possible that demand may be affected by canny members of the Red Army, confident of overcoming Saracens and saving their funds for the final.
With several thousand Munster fans having already travelled to away games this year against Clermont-Ferrand in France and the recent quarter-final against Gloucester, many might well be needing to mind their budgets.
After the team’s convincing victory over Gloucester, they are strong favourites to defeat Saracens who are suffering the loss of several key players through injury. Paddy Power bookmakers make Munster 10-3 on.
It is also known about 15,000 tickets for the final at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium have been sold to people in Ireland. Many are likely to be based in Munster as fans would have known the likely path to the final for several months.
Some ferry sailings on Irish sea routes on the weekend of the final are understood to be sold out.
Despite the slow ticket sales, Sunday’s Heineken Cup semi-final is still likely to be a sellout.
Tickets are available via the Ticketmaster website.
