Aviva Stadium in contention to host 2013 Heineken Cup final

THE Aviva Stadium is a strong contender to host the 2013 Heineken Cup final, European Rugby Cup (ERC) chief executive Derek McGrath said yesterday.

The tournament boss was speaking at the Millennium Stadium yesterday as ERC launched the 16th season of the premier European club rugby competition by gathering representatives of some of the participating clubs from Wales, England, France and Scotland.

They, along with teams from Ireland and Italy will start the 2010-11 campaign on October 8 with the objective being a place in next May’s final at the Cardiff stadium.

That will be the sixth time the Welsh capital has staged the decider while Twickenham has already been selected to host the 2012 finale, its fourth time, while Lansdowne Road hosted two of them, in 1999 and 2003.

McGrath said Ireland was overdue a third and that the Aviva, the 50,000-capacity, €380 million development on the site of the old Lansdowne, was being considered.

“We have decided on 2011 and 2012 and we will be looking at 2013 in the very near future, I believe, and the Aviva Stadium is obviously a very attractive option for us,” McGrath said.

“We haven’t been to Ireland (since 2003) and obviously they would have missed out on a number of finals because of the building that was going on and they’ve been out of the loop on that one.

“So we would very much like the final to get back to Ireland.”

The Aviva, which opened this summer and will stage Saturday’s Magners League clash between Leinster and Munster, will also stage a Heineken Cup group game when Leinster host ASM Clermont Auvergne on December 18.

“That’s going to be exciting,” McGrath said. “To get back in there and see Heineken Cup rugby back in a big venue in Dublin.”

And as a dress rehearsal for a future final?

“Why not,” replied McGrath, although he added that Italy was deserving of hosting the event for the first time, particularly given the recent injection of money into the sport there with the creation of a provincial-type side at Aironi and the bolstering of Treviso.

“We would like to get to Italy to host our final in the near future as well; so we could get to say we’ve been to all six countries in our shareholding body.”