How can the Aviva Stadium improve its atmosphere?

Caelan Doris, Ireland’s captain for the Italy test suggested designated sections for students or younger people where they could have “a few more pints”.

Fri, 16 Feb, 2024 - 07:15

Maurice Brosnan

We’ve been here before. It has been this way since the beginning. The Aviva Stadium didn’t start with a bang. It was welcomed with a disgruntled murmur, the new glass and steel home almost designed as an act of dilution.

“Rows of empty seats greeted the teams at kick-off, a result of the ticketing fiasco that forced to Irish Rugby Football Union to issue an apology on Monday,” reported RTÉ of Ireland’s 2010 Lansdowne Road homecoming defeat against South Africa. The first international event at the ground was far from a sell-out. It began to curdle in the buildup and was positively sour by half-time in what was a fourth successive Test defeat.