Perpignan bid to move Munster Heineken clash to Barcelona
The newly-crowned Top 14 Champions are looking at moving their Heineken Cup match against Munster from Stade Aime Giral in France to the Estadi Montjuic in Barcelona. The 55,926-capacity stadium hosted the 1992 Olympic Games and up until this season also played host to Espanyol in La Liga. It is nearly four times the capacity of Perpignan’s intimidating Stade Aime Giral ground.
“If it can be done, we’ll do it,” said Perpignan president Paul Goze.
“It’s an appealing prospect but the feasibility of doing it is another thing altogether because of the logistics that have to be put in place. Nothing is sure. What is certain on the other hand, is that match would be sufficiently attractive to study the idea.”
It would not be the first time French clubs have moved Heineken Cup matches against Munster outside of the country. Biarritz moved their 2004 quarter-final against Munster to the Stadio Anoeta in San Sebastian.
Bourgoin did the same in 2007 when they played Munster in Geneva.
Meanwhile Munster captain Paul O’Connell believes it will be “incredibly hard” for the two-time Heineken Cup winners to reach the knockout stages next season following the draw for the group stages.
Munster will be bidding to reach the quarter-finals for a 12th straight season when they lock horns with the Northampton Saints, Perpignan and Benetton Treviso in the pool stages.
Speaking in South Africa, where he is captaining the Lions, Munster skipper O’Connell described Pool 1 as producing a “standard Munster draw”.
“We usually draw the top teams in the competition. We have the French champions, Perpignan, who have probably one of the biggest budgets in the whole of French rugby.
“It will be, as usual, incredibly hard to get out of the group. Northampton just won the European Challenge Cup. They have invested heavily and have signed a lot of players. It is the first time we have been drawn with Italian opponents for a long time and they are Italian champions.”
Munster lost out by a single point to Northampton in the 2000 Heineken Cup final at Twickenham.
O’Connell said that defeat might well be used as a motivating factor ahead of their two pool meetings.
“We will bring everything we can to those games with Northampton and the 2000 defeat will probably be one of those things we will bring to it.”
Munster beat Perpignan in a quarter-final at Lansdowne Road on route to winning the 2006 Heineken Cup.
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