Despite the difficulties of finding an available seat on a plane, a huge Irish presence is expected at Twickenham on Saturday with confirmation yesterday that 61,600 tickets have already been sold for the European Cup final between Munster and Northampton.
A spokesperson for the English RFU admitted that they expected the ticket sales to exceed 64,000 by Saturday. In an Irish context the Munster Branch alone has sold 18,700 tickets. The IRFU confirmed that they have all but sold the 2,000 tickets they requested through the clubs. The attendance will break all previous European Cup final records.
The previous record was set last year, when Ulster's triumphant march to the title culminated in a gala occasion at Lansdowne Road: the match was a 49,000 sell-out.
Northampton have sold 14,700 tickets for the final but are likely to be outnumbered by Irish supporters by three to one.
A barometer of the interest in the game can be gleaned from the fact that a mere 55,000 saw the recent English Cup final between Wasps and Northampton while there were even fewer present for the Welsh Cup final, contested by Llanelli and Swansea at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff (49,800).
Those punters who receive tickets for the north and south ends at Twickenham will receive cards in the colours of the respective finalists. The idea is that a mosaic will be constructed with the aid of the supporters prior to the kick-off, the first of its kind at a rugby match.
Getting to Twickenham rather than getting in to the match remains the major preoccupation of Irish supporters. Planes, trains and automobiles; it doesn't matter, seats on any mode of transport are at a premium. A spokesperson for Aer Lingus confirmed yesterday that they had just a single seat left on Saturday morning and that was on the 8.10 flight to Gatwick.
There was a very limited supply of business-class seats (circa £300) available on Friday night with even fewer economy options on the 6.15pm flight to Gatwick. At this juncture there are no seats for sale on any flight back on the Saturday night and in the case of Aer Lingus, a limited number on the Sunday.
The national airline is expected to run 29 flights on the day of the game from Dublin, Cork and Shannon.
Ryanair have been equally inundated and between the Friday and Saturday anticipate running in excess of 46 flights. On Friday there are a handful of seats remaining while the following day they have no seats going out and only six remaining on the 17.25 flight, albeit to Shannon.
Irish Ferries have also received a huge response to their low-cost car and driver packages.
Meanwhile Irish international second-row Jeremy Davidson is considering signing a new three-year contract with French club Castres. The 26-year-old former Lion is expected to end speculation by agreeing a new deal with the club he joined from London Irish.
"I enjoyed my first season here and I am in negotiations with the club president about renewing my contract."
Davidson will miss the run-in to the French Championship and also the European Shield final because of his commitments to Ireland. Davidson is in the Irish squad for the match against the Barbarians in Lansdowne Road on Sunday and also travels with the national squad on their summer tour of Argentina, the USA and Canada.
