London Irish will today pursue a case against an Ulster player for alleged racial abuse arising out of back-to-back Heineken European Cup matches between the two clubs over the past fortnight.
The Exiles player in question is right wing Delon Armitage, whom London Irish claim was twice racially abused, first at the Madejski Stadium and then last Friday night at Ravenhill, by the same Ulster player.
The first incident is said to have taken place on the pitch during the match in London, the second, at Ravenhill, off the pitch.
There is a suggestion Sky Sports may play an important role in the proceedings as the first contretemps may have been caught on tape.
London Irish last night issued the following brief statement: "London Irish is still collating information/evidence about the racial abuse incidents that took place around its last two Heineken Cup fixtures . . . the club will make a statement tomorrow (Tuesday)."
The Exiles are set to take the case to the ERC and ask them to investigate the matter.
Meanwhile, Magners Celtic League rugby is set to attract bumper attendances over the festive period. Leinster clash with Ulster at Lansdowne Road on New Year's Eve, a match billed as "The Last Stand" to mark the final game to be played at world rugby's oldest Test venue.
Yesterday morning ticket sales for the fixture had exceeded 35,000, eclipsing the current league regular-season record of 27,252, in a match also involving Leinster, and guaranteed to become the largest crowd at any Celtic League game, including the play-off finals from the first two seasons.
The Ospreys have sold out the Liberty Stadium for their game against the Llanelli Scarlets on St Stephen's Day, a crowd in excess of 20,000 expected.
The current rude health of the Celtic cousins in Europe - Munster, Llanelli Scarlets and Leinster head their respective pools - certainly has not harmed their drawing power.
David Jordan, director of Celtic rugby said, "Overall . . . gates are increasing significantly for the third year running since the league adopted the regular home-and-away format."
Connacht are confident their home clash with Munster on New Year's Eve will be a sell-out. All corporate packages are sold, while the allocation for the enclosed stand is also taken. Over 1,000 tickets have been sold for the rest of the ground.
Tickets are available from Ticketmaster and Zhivago shops.
They can also be purchased at the Connacht Branch headquarters at the Sportsground up to 12.30 on Thursday - the office will close for Christmas.
The office will be open from 10am to 4pm on December 28th, and the following day but the match could be sold out by then.
Ulster and Leinster meet at A level in Stevenson Park, Dungannon, tonigh,t with several front-line and a host of promising young players on view.
Ulster include experienced players like Andrew Maxwell, Scott Young, Kieran Campbell and Paul Shields and will be led by Neil McMillan, a try scorer against London Irish the last day.
Leinster have opted for a mixed team that includes Rob Kearney, Gary Brown, Kieran Lewis, Guy Easterby and Cameron Jowitt alongside such relative tyros as Stephen Grissing, Rob Sweeney, Devin Toner and captain and number eight Kevin McLoughlin.
ULSTER A:M Kettyle; A Maxwell, S Young, S Megaw, P McKenzie; A Larkin, K Campbell; N Conlon, P Shields, D Fitzgerald; T Barker, R Caldwell; W Faloon, N McMillan (capt), C Henry. Replacements: T Court, N Brady, S Philpott, L Stevenson, P Marshall, M McCrea, R McCarter.
LEINSTER A:R Kearney; G Brown, K Lewis, M Berne, S Grissing; A Dunne, G Easterby; J Lyne, H Vermaas, R Sweeney; A Byrnes, D Toner; C Jowitt, N Ronan, K McLaughlin (capt). Replacements: J Wickham, R Murphy, A O'Sullivan, D Dillon, R Leyden, M D'Arcy, R McCarron, F Carr.
