Fans in blue have a battle to win too

LEINSTER rugby supporters are turning blue in the face trying to come up with strategies to cope with red-eye effect.

The winners will not have the blues after next Saturday’s historic Heineken cup semi-final, but until then it’s all to play for in the colour stakes off the pitch.

The Official Leinster Supporters Club has made no secret of the fact that it will be green with envy if a sea of red comes crashing over Croke Park.

“While the players go toe to toe on the pitch the supporters will also have a battle to win. We need everyone to be on their game... Paint it blue, deck yourself out in your bluest jersey, hats, scarves, etc. Bring along your banners and flags,” the club has stated.

Saturday’s game will also see the number of fans to attend matches in a single season top the one million mark for the first time. So far, the 76 matches played have been watched by 981,946 while Saturday’s all-Ireland encounter alone will send that figure in to seven figures for the first time.

“As it stands, the only tickets left for the game are a handful in the corporate hospitality section of the ground,” according to the European Rugby Cup (ERC), the competition organisers.

John Corcoran of the ERC reiterated that the one millionth supporter to attend on Saturday will be bumped up to the hospitality section to mark the event.

“We are around the 982,000 mark at the moment after 76 games so the lucky winner should be about the 18,000th to enter Croke Park on Saturday,” he said.

Munster Rugby Supporters Club Chairman Glenn Flanagan is confident that the Red Army will outnumber their Leinster counterparts as they did three years ago.

“It was crazy in 2006 and it will never be like that again. I think we’ll still outnumber the opposition support maybe around 60 to 40. There are a lot more Munster fans living in Dublin than there are Leinster supporters in Munster so it’s always going to be like this and I think the Leinster supporters would admit that,” Mr Flanagan said. The supporters’ club chairman also hinted they are planning “something special” for this weekend’s game and is expected to be bigger than anything the club has previously attempted. “All I can say really is that there’s going to be a few surprises and for people to get in early. Besides that, the whole operation is top secret,” he said.