Fans scrum down for Lansdowne ticket frenzy

SSIA money and the opening up of Croke Park for rugby won’t come in time for the eagerly-awaited showdown between Leinster and Munster in the semi-final of the Heineken Cup.

Tickets for the guaranteed sell-out in Lansdowne Road in three weeks’ time are set to become the hottest pass for any event, sporting or otherwise, in Ireland this year after quarter-final victories by both provinces on Saturday.

The mad scramble for the first-ever meeting of Irish teams in Europe’s top rugby competition begins later today when the European Rugby Cup will confirm the date of the match.

The semi-final is scheduled for the weekend of April 22-23, together with the other semi-final between Biarritz and Bath.

Some Munster fans already forked out up to €500 to buy a black market ticket for Saturday’s quarter-final against Perpignan at Lansdowne Road.

It is estimated that each province will be given an allocation of around 22,000 tickets each - a figure certain to leave thousands of rugby fans disappointed.

“Lansdowne Road is a neutral venue once it was known there could be a semi-final in Ireland. On that basis, both teams will be given the same number of tickets,” said an ERC spokesperson.

The historic all-Ireland semi-final resulted from Leinster’s impressive 41-35 away win against reigning champions, Toulouse.

It was followed by a more workmanlike performance from Munster in grinding out a 19-10 victory over Perpignan in front of 48,500-capacity crowd at Lansdowne Road.

Although Croke Park is officially only available for international matches, it is probably the only stadium in Ireland capable of accommodating the number of supporters hoping to attend the game.

“Munster v Leinster is such an attractive tie that it could easily fill Croke Park. Staging such a fixture there is something that should be examined if such a pairing was to happen again in 12 months’ time,” said one senior rugby official.

The ERC also confirmed strong interest in tickets for the Heineken Cup final in Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium on May 20, after it emerged there would be an Irish team in the final.

“We’ve already sold 27,000 tickets for the match and as the two finalists are only guaranteed allocations of 7,500 tickets each, we would advise supporters thinking of going to Cardiff to buy tickets as early as possible,” the ERC spokesperson said.

Return flights from Dublin to Cardiff with Ryanair, which normally cost around €70, are now selling for almost €420 on the weekend of the final.