Summer rugby might not be favourable in France’s southern region, but it definitely flourishes in our local area. By May, the grounds harden, with a general decline in wind and rain, letting more sunshine bathe the players and spectators alike. Thus, the rugby matches are often more enjoyable.
Throughout much of the season, the chilling winter owns the court, making it harder for the sport, making a change in season a welcome respite. This being a World Cup season, it’s also heartening that the stakes are high during this phase.
As we approach the final stages of the campaign, the four leading teams battle fiercely in a competition arguably unseen in a decade. The URC’s regular season has two rounds remaining on either side of the upcoming Champions Cup final next weekend. Then, the play-offs ensue for the first three weekends in May. These act as a preamble to Ireland’s tour to South Africa for a two-test match against the defending world champions. Therefore, there’s still nine weeks of thrilling rugby remaining.
Unpredictably, the Leinster-Toulouse final next weekend will be held at a football stadium. This venue seems unlikely to host another top-tier European competition in the near future, if ever. However, next season, EPCR plan to relocate their finals weekend back to Cardiff. This move evokes boredom as it marks the eighth final in Cardiff, compared with a mere four in Dublin.
This unlucky spell for overpriced hotels in Cardiff doesn’t seem to break the current mould. Considering how Bilbao in Spain hosted the 2018 final, it’s baffling why the tournament organisers haven’t selected a city in Italy to host even one of the past 30 competition finals.
Disregarding this oversight, the end-of-season locations are progressively becoming discontenting as rugby stadiums are more frequently used for concerts and other events.
A sticking point remains regarding Munster’s decision to relocate their Champions Cup quarter-final against Toulouse from Thomond Park to the Aviva Stadium two years ago. This move was implemented so their Branch could generate revenue from Ed Sheeran concerts.
Despite this, the Aviva Stadium attracted over 40,000 fans and the memorable half-time performance of ‘Zombie’ served as a forecast of unforgettable evenings at France’s World Cup.
The acquiescence of the Aviva Stadium to UEFA’s demand of putting it out of use for rugby for over five weeks to facilitate the upcoming Europa League final is plainly absurd. It is understood that the Aviva has been chosen for this year’s Europa League final as a form of redress from UEFA due to the FAI’s inability to host any of the re-scheduled 2020 European Championships.
The Aviva Stadium board, consisting of three nominees each from the IRFU and the FAI, sanctioned this decision. The question, however, arises if it was absolutely necessary to safeguard the grass for more than three weeks and ensure all branding was removed to provide UEFA with a ‘clean stadium’ for its final. UEFA’s blatant self-importance is evident and the Aviva Stadium seems to be compliantly capitulating.
As a result, the All-Ireland League finals had to be scheduled a week after the semi-finals – on April 28th, to allow a 24-day break between the final match of Cork Constitution-Terenure and the upcoming encounter between Bayer Leverkusen and Atalanta. Ordinarily, part-time and amateur teams should be given a two-week gap.
This week, London’s Queen’s Club announced that it would host a new WTA event in 2025 the week preceding their men’s pre-Wimbledon tournament. They also conducted independent investigations to alleviate concerns regarding the capability of the club’s grass courts to manage back-to-back tournaments lasting a week each.
A well-informed source suggests that the Aviva grass would actually be healthier at this time of the year. Strangely enough, they expect it will take a full two weeks for the Aviva Stadium to fully eliminate UEFA’s branding.
The relocation of Leinster’s Champions Cup semi-final to Croke Park introduced an additional element of novelty to the event and led to an increased capacity of 82,500. It is important to remember, however, that Leinster are simply occupants in both the RDS and the Aviva Stadium, and commercial considerations hold sway as rugby season intersects with the concert season.
It remains unclear which stadiums will serve as the host for knockout games this season. After their last home URC match against Connacht, Leinster are set to bid adieu to the RDS for an indefinite period in the near future. Subsequent to their final match, the RDS will be inaccessible to Leinster for the URC elimination rounds due to a scheduled Rammnstein concert taking place on the 23rd of June. The assumption is that Leinster will secure a home quarterfinal place, which will occur after Uefa would have shifted focus after five weeks, given that this match could be on the weekend of May 7th-9th. Being more than a fortnight after the Europa League final.
Notwithstanding, if Leinster host a URC semi-final or final, potential dates being Saturday the 22nd of June, they will be forced to move to Croke Park due to concerts from Pink and Taylor Swift at Aviva Stadium during the same period.
Munster, similarly, are likely to host a quarterfinal at Thomond Park, and this would also be the case should Munster secure a home semi-final and final. Despite rumours that the province were considering Páirc Uí Chaoimh as a potential venue, it seems tournament organizers have not been informed about this.