Surge in sales for Heineken Cup final tickets

There is a suspicion that Munster's Red Army have been responsible of the purchase of many of the 35,000 tickets sold for the 13th Heineken Cup final being played at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday, May 24.

The confirmation of the quarter-finalists after last weekend's Round six matches produced a surge of more than 5,000 tickets being snapped up within hours of the teams booking their places in the knock-out stages.

There are just 15,000 tickets reserved to be shared between the finalists and there are a further 10,000 allocated to the partners, sponsors etc. It means there are less than 10,000 left for public sale.

"We are delighted with the advance sales for the final in May," said ERC Chairman Jean-Pierre Lux.

"We have already staged four hugely successful finals in the city of Cardiff and it is exciting for the eight clubs still in the tournament to be aiming to play at the magnificent home of Welsh rugby.

"Following on from the successful partnership model adopted for Cardiff 2006 final two years ago, ERC will be working in partnership with the WRU, Millennium Stadium, Welsh Assembly Government and Cardiff Council to create a festival of European Rugby for the Cardiff 2008 Heineken Cup final weekend.

"We had a world record crowd for a Rugby Union club match of 81,076 to see London Wasps beat Leicester Tigers last May with fans from all over Europe creating a wonderful atmosphere. Working with the WRU we are once again setting a full house at the Millennium Stadium and another memorable occasion as our target for Saturday, 24 May."

Tickets are on sale through Ticketmaster (UK tel: [phone], outside UK 0044 208 6165111 and through www.ticketmaster.co.uk).

Tickets are priced at €20, €35, €45 and €55 with concession prices for juniors at €22, €24, €32 (booking fee applies).