Celtic Cup final date for Murrayfield

Murrayfield will stage the Celtic Cup final between Edinburgh Gunners and Ulster on December 20.

The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and Dublin’s Lansdowne Road have both previously staged the final.

Now, the home of Scottish rugby union will play host to its first ever major international union final.

Celtic Rugby tournament director Keith Grainger said: “After highly successful finals in Dublin and Cardiff, it is only natural that the Scottish capital should be next on our list to stage our showpiece event.

“The success of Edinburgh in becoming the first professional Scottish side to reach the final of an international competition is bound to add to the excitement.”

There were 30,000 fans at Lansdowne Road to see Leinster Lions beat Munster 24-20 in the inaugural Celtic Cup final in 2001.

This year, more than 30,000 people turned up at the Millennium Stadium to see Munster take the title by beating Neath 37-17.

It will be the first time that Murrayfield has hosted a major international rugby union cup final, although the ground did provide a magnificent stage for rugby league’s Challenge Cup final in 2002.