RUGBY/European Cup: Munster's Heineken European Cup quarter-final against French side Perpignan will be played in Lansdowne Road and is likely to earn the Branch a gross income in excess of €1 million.
No dates have yet been fixed for the four quarter-final European Cup matches over the weekend of March 31st-April 2nd but the European Rugby Cup, the organisers of the event, say that they should have the times and venues agreed either today or tomorrow.
According to an ERC official, it is unlikely that Munster's home match against Perpignan and Leinster's game away to Toulouse will clash with each other as officials will be keen to maximise television interest. That means the four semi-final matches will be played over the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the weekend with the two Irish fixtures likely to be sensibly scheduled on separate days.
Munster took a decision with the IRFU to use Lansdowne Road for the knockout stages of the competition following their previous 2003-04 quarter-final match against Stade Francais. While tickets went on sale to the general public, there were not enough to supply demand and to add to the annoyance people queued out overnight in bad weather to try and secure the precious few seats that were available for the 14,000 capacity Thomond Park.
Last season three teams out of the four home quarter-finalists moved from their home grounds to larger venues while Leinster staged their match against Leicester at Lansdowne Road (considered neutral) and attracted a full house, which still stands as a record gate for the province. Stade Francais moved from Stade Jean-Bouin to the 44,000 capacity Parc de Princes; Biarritz relocated across the border to play in the San Sebastien soccer club's ground in Spain and Toulouse used their 37,000 capacity Le Stadium rather than Stade Earnest Wallon.
The precise size of Munster's quarter-final cash windfall obviously depends on how many spectators the match attracts to Lansdowne Road and the pricing structure of the tickets ranging from schoolboys to premium stand tickets. Munster will determine the cost and most people expect the stadium to be full. It is likely the top price will be around the €40-€50 mark with school terrace tickets significantly lower.
For the semi-final match in Lansdowne Road in the 2003-04 season between Munster and London Wasps the price range ran from €5 for a school ticket to €50 for a stand ticket. There were eight categories in all from €5 up to the top price.
There seems to be division, however, on just how the ticket allocation is broken down. The ERC say that 65 per cent go to Munster and 35 per cent to Perpignan, while Munster believe it is more a 60 per cent/40 per cent split. Either way Munster are highly likely to end up taking the lions share as Perpignan are not expected to bring over more than 2,000 fans to Dublin.
In that event the remaining unsold tickets from Perpignan's allocation revert back to Munster no later than two weeks before the match takes place for distribution in Ireland. Regardless of the percentage nature of the initial breakdown, Munster may end up with 90 per cent of the 49,000 Lansdowne Road tickets anyway. The thing is not to panic if a ticket does not become available in the first round of sales.
Today both Irish teams will also take interest in the semi-final draw, which will take place in the Millenium Stadium, Cardiff at 12.00. The draw will decide which teams meet each other and what country the match takes place in. The procedure will be that each quarter-final game will be numbered, one to four, with the numbers then being placed in a drum. For example Toulouse v Leinster might be numbered one, Biarritz v Sale numbered two, Leicester v Bath numbered three and Munster v Perpignan numbered four.
The winning quarter-finalist from the first number pulled out will face the winning quarter-finalist from the second number pulled out with the first out gaining the semi-final home advantage. The third number out will face the fourth number out with the third also gaining home advantage.
For example, if number three were first out of the hat then Leicester or Bath would have home advantage in the semi-final. If number four were pulled out next, then Leicester or Bath at home would face Munster or Perpignan.Sale Sharks player Epi Taione will appear before an independent Disciplinary Committee as a result of a citing lodged against him following the match against Munster at Thomond Park. The citing against Taione is for alleged contravention of Law: 10-4 (k), in that he allegedly bit Munster's Denis Leamy on the right arm.
