Wasps and Leinster set for bumper crowd

MORE than 20,000 tickets have been sold for Leinster’s Heineken Cup clash against London Wasps at Twickenham on Saturday week.

However, Wasps chief executive Tony Copsey has pitched potential sales at more than 50,000.

He said yesterday: “We are delighted to cross the 20,000 mark. There is clearly a great interest in this game, and by taking it to Twickenham we know that both Wasps and Leinster supporters can enjoy a huge rugby occasion.

“Club rugby is very strong at the moment — the support that has been seen for the big games highlights the strength in our sport, and it is very encouraging.”

Twickenham will become the fourth national stadium to stage Heineken Cup pool action this season — for a match that will surely have a major bearing on quarter-final qualification.

Leinster are three points clear of the two-time Heineken Cup champions in pool two, and Wasps will need the points from the crunch clash to stay in the hunt.

Copsey, realising that Leinster can bank on growing support for away games and, perhaps, on the huge Irish population in the greater London area to lend a hand, is appealing to all Wasps fans to turn up.

“It’s going to be a really good rugby day out, the ticket prices are competitive and we will need all the support we can get against one of the best and strongest teams in the competition,” he said.

Murrayfield — venue for the 2009 Heineken Cup final on May 23 — the Millennium Stadium and Stade de France have all hosted pool matches already this season, with over 600,000 fans having gone through the turnstiles for the 48 matches played in the opening four rounds.

Three teams, treble champions Toulouse, Harlequins and Cardiff Blues have made it four from four to head their groups with two matches to come.

The big one in pool six is the Cardiff Blues’ trip to Kingsholm to face Gloucester. The Welsh region are four points ahead with each team having also banked two bonus points.

But Harlequins have the biggest lead of any pool leader, a commanding six points over Stade Français after Nick Evans clinched back-to-back victories over the French giants in one of the most pulsating finishes in the rich history of the tournament.

Toulouse — who will play their 100th Heineken Cup match when they travel to 1998 champions Bath in round six — are two points clear of the English club. The Recreation Ground clash possibly holds the key to the ultimate group honours.

Meanwhile, advance sales for the Edinburgh final have gone through the 35,500 mark with less than 10,000 left in the public allocation of tickets. ERC retain 15,000 tickets for the finalists to share.