RUGBY:ALTHOUGH IT is far from a done deal, the likelihood of Munster staging a Heineken Cup semi-final at Croke Park in early May increased yesterday. First, the winners of their quarter-final with the Ospreys were drawn at home to the winners of the Harlequins and Leinster match, and, second, initial reaction from the GAA and the IRFU suggest the prospect of Croke Park welcoming a possible all-Ireland semi-final was not logistically insurmountable.
There remains the minor detail, of course, of Munster overcoming the Ospreys at Thomond Park on Easter Sunday for there to be a semi-final in Ireland, not to mention Leinster making it a reprise of the 2005-06 semi-final at Lansdowne Road by beating Harlequins later the same day.
Nonetheless, ticket demands for another Munster-Leinster semi-final would easily fill Croke Park were it to come to pass.
Early opinion suggests a decision to ratify the leasing of Croke Park for a one-off Heineken Cup semi-final involving Munster and, ideally, Leinster, would not require a vote of the GAA’s Annual Congress in mid-April.
Conceivably matters could move fairly swiftly, as the next scheduled meeting of the GAA’s Central Council takes place on Valentine’s Day, February 14th.
One potential difficulty is that the National Hurling League final is scheduled for Sunday, May 3rd, though in recent years that competition has been staged elsewhere.
Even so, this would mean that were the GAA’s Central Council to approve a Heineken Cup semi-final taking place in Croke Park, it could be on Saturday, May 2nd. But given the increased gate receipts and profile of an 80,000 sell-out, the ERC presumably wouldn’t have a problem with such a development.
In not ruling the Croke Park option out, an IRFU spokesperson effectively confirmed that they are now considering an approach to the GAA when saying: “We have to nominate a host venue for the Heineken Cup semi-final and right now we’re looking at all the options.”
The odds on an approach from the IRFU for the use of Croke Park have also been increased by Munster being drawn at home as well as Leinster being a potential opponent. Somewhat incredibly, Munster have only been drawn at home once at the semi-final stage in the last nine years. Not only have they played six semi-finals away (four of them in France), but on the last two times they were knocked out in the quarter-finals Munster were due to play away in the last four.
Munster did play Wasps at Lansdowne Road in the 2003-04 semi-finals, and Perpignan in the 2005-06 quarter-finals and, as with the all-Irish semi-final that followed, Lansdowne Road was sold out each time. Although the ticket share is split 50-50 between the teams, in the 2006 semi-final the Red Army invaded Lansdowne Road by two or three to one. Even if Munster were to earn a home semi-final against Harlequins, and allowing for the latter receiving 50 per cent of the tickets, the chances are that the Red Army would fill Croke Park anyway.
No other scenario for a Munster-Leinster semi-final is nearly as attractive. Under tournament rules, “home” semi-finalists are obliged to use a venue that is not their home ground and has a minimum capacity of 20,000.
Munster provisionally nominated the RDS and Leinster named Thomond Park prior to yesterday’s semi-final draw in Murrayfield, and so this raises the ridiculous prospect of Munster playing host to Leinster at the RDS.
While the IRFU could ask the ERC to grant a dispensation for Munster to hold a semi-final at the redeveloped Thomond Park, the argument for first asking the GAA if Croke Park could be hired is compelling. Because the profits from the gate receipts go to the ERC, this would limit the direct windfall for the IRFU or either of the provinces were an all-Ireland semi-final at Croke Park to come to pass. However, the increased marketing and revenue opportunities arising from an 80,000 capacity as opposed to one of 27,000 would be considerable.
So too would be the spin-offs for the local economy. The Munster-All Blacks match in November generated an estimated €6 million for Limerick, as well as €750,000 for the New Zealand Rugby Union and a six-figure profit for the Munster branch.
Bear in mind also that independent surveys have shown that a Six Nations game such as the Ireland-England match at Croke Park generated up to €50 million for the economy, and a sell-out in Croke Park might be up to three times as profitable for the general economy as a 27,000 or 20,000 sell-out in Limerick or the RDS.
Croke Park is also facing a €4 million drop in profits this year. The one-off rental of Croke Park is estimated to be almost €1.3 million, so were an approach be made to them, the GAA’s Central Council may find the reasons for opening Croke Park’s doors one more time even more compelling than they were when Rule 42 was relaxed in 2005.
The dates and times of the quarter-finals were also confirmed yesterday, and Munster have been handed a 1pm slot on Easter Sunday as the first half of a Sky Sports double-dealer with the Harlequins-Leinster tie to follow at 3pm. The Cardiff-Toulouse and Leicester-Bath games will take place the day before, with the winners of the latter also drawn away in the semi-finals.
Provincial clash: GAA wait and see
GAELIC GAMES: The GAA have responded cautiously to news of the possible Heineken Cup semi-final meeting between the Irish provinces, reports Seán Moran.
Asked would Croke Park be available for the fixture, scheduled for May 2nd-3rd, association spokeswoman Lisa Clancy said: “We have not received any request at this moment in time. If and when we did, that request would have to be considered by Central Council.”
There appears, however, no basis for the view that the fixture would require a decision of Congress, as the relevant Rule 44 makes no distinction between international level and other matches, saying simply that, “Central Council shall have the power to authorise the use of Croke Park for games, other than those controlled by the Association, during a temporary period when Lansdowne Road Football Ground is closed for the proposed development”.
The next meeting of the council is scheduled for Saturday fortnight, February 14th, and assuming a request for the use of Croke Park is received by that date the matter will be considered then.
