A steady uptake in ticket sales this week looks set to more than justify Leinster’s decision to move next Saturday’s marquee BKT URC derby against Munster to Croke Park. Ticket sales have topped 50,000, thus exceeding the capacity had the game taken place at the Aviva Stadium.
Last season’s corresponding clash against Munster drew a capacity 81,000 crowd to Croke Park for what was only Leinster’s second match at the GAA grounds since the landmark 2009 Heineken Cup semi-final win over their auld enemy.
Clearly the novelty value of moving this unrivalled derby to Croke Park has not been quite as acute for both sets of supporters 12 months on, not least as Leinster hosted games two more games at the ground last season.
There was also an additional week’s build-up to last year’s round five game and perhaps a greater awareness that Irish frontliners were returning, as well as the profile of RG Snyman following his move to Leinster from Munster.
RM Block
In addition to the gradual return of Irish/Lions players and Snyman, the game has also been marketed to some degree on the prospect of Sam Prendergast and Jack Crowley invoking the Johnny Sexton-Ronan O’Gara rivalry by opposing each other for the first time.
The team announcements having been brought forward by almost 24 hours, so it has come to pass that the two main protagonists for the Irish number 10 jersey will indeed square off and ticket sales will exceed all previous attendances at the Aviva for this fixture.
