There is a growing fear within the Leinster Branch that one or two of their clubs might cash in on some of their ticket allocation for the Heineken European Cup tie between Leinster and Munster. Clubs from Munster are known to have approached some of their Leinster counterparts with a view to offering premium rates for tickets to the semi-final at Lansdowne Road on Sunday, April 23rd.
The final ticket allocation was confirmed by the ERC yesterday with both provinces to receive 21,400 tickets each. Both reckon they could sell three times that amount, with the demand in Munster particularly acute bearing in mind more than twice that number were in Lansdowne Road to support their team against Perpignan last Saturday.
One proactive Limerick club purchased tickets directly from Perpignan and are known to have laid on three corporate pre-match lunches before the quarter-final. The fallout for any Leinster club who sell their tickets to a Munster club might be acute. Leinster have been designated the north terrace while the south terrace will be Munster's domain. And even though the stand tickets will be interspersed, it will be obvious if tickets allocated to Leinster clubs end up in the hands of Munster supporters.
This vexed issue came up at Tuesday night's executive committee meeting of the Leinster Branch, where it was confirmed their allocation would be less than half their allocation for international matches.
Due to the requirement to service the branch committees, the sponsors, advertisers, and 2,500 Club Leinster members (who heretofore have snapped up Leinster tickets more readily than the clubs) in many instances this would amount to less than 200 per club and makes them even more of a prized asset than tickets for the majority of Six Nations games.
At the meeting, it was agreed in no circumstances should any Leinster tickets be sold to any club or corporate outlet who supports Munster and that any club doing this will forfeit their Six Nations tickets. When contacted last night, the Leinster chief executive Mick Dawson said there was a genuine concern about the possibility of tickets allocated to Leinster clubs ending up with their Munster counterparts. The tickets will be distributed next week and Dawson confirmed "the clubs will be asked to make sure that all their tickets end up with Leinster supporters".
Dawson was reluctant to discuss the ramifications if they didn't, though conceded: "There would be serious discussions."
It was also confirmed the RDS will be redeveloped next season and with Lansdowne Road also due for redevelopment potentially Leinster might not have an adequate ground for knockout matches in the European Cup next season. "We are actively looking for alternative venues," admitted Dawson, who did not rule out the possibility of temporarily having to relocate a home quarter-final or semi-final to a ground in England.
Tickets: Who gets what
Total capacity for distribution: 47,800
Munster allocation: 21,400
Leinster allocation: 21,400
European Rugby stakeholder distribution: 3,800*
Official corporate hospitality: 1,200
TOTAL: 47,800
* ERC family of partners, broadcast partners (TV and radio), media promotions, officials and others
