Dublin may benefit from decision on ERC double

ERC chiefs will decide next summer whether or not to continue their policy of playing both European finals in the same city, with Dublin poised to benefit if the arrangement is kept in place for 2013.

The Aviva Stadium has already been pencilled in as the venue for that campaign’s Heineken Cup decider and the RDS would be the front runner — and probably the only runner — in the contest to welcome the Amlin Challenge Cup competitors.

Until last season, the ERC had played the ultimate games in both competitions in different cities and, more often than not, in different countries with the exception of 2007 when the Amlin was played in Harlequins’ The Stoop and the Heineken next door in Twickenham.

Those two venues will again be the hosts for the same games this coming May — the second time that the tournament organisers have run with the “Four Teams, Two Finals, One City” mantra, first trialed 12 months before in Cardiff.

Feedback after the event was mostly positive but the one negative was the lack of accommodation in the Welsh capital. There are no such concerns over hotel beds or transport links in London, where the grounds are also in much closer proximity.

Dublin’s hopes of being awarded the Amlin Challenge final would be helped by a similarly capable infrastructure and the geography of the Aviva and RDS, which are less than a mile apart, as well as close to the city centre and thus perfectly situated to tie in with the “festival of rugby” experiment.

“No decision has been made yet for 2013,” said an ERC spokesman yesterday, “however, when we look at the positive feedback we hope to get from the finals in London we will take that into account when deciding on a venue for 2013.”

Capacity is not an issue for the RDS which holds over 5,000 spectators more than the Stoop’s capacity of 14,186. What might count against Leinster is the dilapidated nature of the main grandstand.

Plans are in place to build a new structure but no start or finish date has yet been confirmed, although there has been significant redevelopment work done to the venue since the two-time European champions moved in during the 2005-06 season.

The only other realistic option would be the Aviva itself, which is an unlikely choice given the logistical and time issues involved in hosting two games in two days.