Half-built Velodrome to roll out Red carpet

The ERC has assured supporters that Stade Velodrome in Marseille is ready to stage Sunday’s Heineken Cup semi-final despite a massivere development programme which is nearing completion.

Munster fans arriving at the ground on Sunday will get a shock when they see the stadium for the first time as it is a gigantic building site as the €267m project reaches conclusion.

Capacity at the stadium has been reduced from 60,000 to 40,000 while the work is ongoing, which includes a spectacular roof which is almost complete.

Hundreds of workers will spend the next few days transforming the building site back to a working stadium, but this is an ongoing process as major football and rugby games have continued to take place at the venue since the redevelopment (which will be completed later this year) started five years ago. The stadium, which was built in 1937 and which hosted seven games in the 1998 Fifa World Cup and six matches in the Rugby World Cup in 2007, is home to Olympique Marseille.

Munster’s opponents, Toulon, usually move two matches a season to Stade Velodrome and over 38,000 saw Bernard Laporte’s men defeat Toulouse 32-28 there last month.

Up to 7,000 Munster fans are expected to make the journey for what will be the province’s sixth Heineken Cup semi-final on French soil, something the ERC took into account when the venue was chosen for Sunday’s showdown.

“While the venue is being redeveloped, it is and has been used throughout the season for both football and rugby, including several high-profile Champions League matches and more recently an attendance of 38,800 watched Toulon play Toulouse in the Top 14,” said the ERC spokesperson.

He said that due to the redevelopment work a reduced venue capacity of 40,600 is in place for the game on Sunday when Stade Velodrome will become the 105th venue to stage a Heineken Cup match.

“ERC is working with the local FFR Comité de Provence and the stadium on the organisation of the match and a range of health and safety procedures and protocols are in place to ensure supporters, both local and visitors, can enjoy what promises to be another wonderful European occasion,” added the spokesperson.

Meanwhile, Toulon have confirmed that Jonny Wilkinson and Bryan Habana have been passed fit to face Munster.

Former England international Wilkinson limped out of the reigning Heineken Cup champions’ quarter-final victory over Leinster with a hamstring injury, and Fred Michalak deputised at fly-half in the weekend’s Top 14 win over Perpignan.

But Toulon coach Laporte has revealed that Wilkinson will be fit to start against Munster, while Habana is also ready to return in time for the match. The South African wing was out for four months with a hamstring problem, and he made a brief comeback against Bordeaux before sitting out the Perpignan clash due to tendonitis.

“Wilkinson is ready,” Laporte confirmed.

“He trained on Tuesday for I don’t know how many hours, but a fair few. So it seems that all is well.”