It will be after the thrill of the Guinness Six nations but there is already a sense of anticipation about what April will bring. Apart altogether from the Women’s Six Nations there will now be a Heineken Champions Cup InterPro over two legs in Galway and Dublin to look forward to.
The results of the final weekend of pool matches in the reshaped tournament saw all four of the Irish provinces advance to the knock out stage for the first time.
Each of the teams finished second, third, fourth and fifth across the two groups and will as a result face the team that reverse mirrored their position on the other side.
Hence fourth-placed in Group A Leinster will travel to Galway for the first leg against fifth place in Group B Connacht before hosting the second leg, most likely at a full Aviva Stadium on Easter Weekend.
Munster will also have the second leg at home after a trip to Exeter.
Ulster, who performed best of all the Irish teams will feel the hardest done by meeting French and European Champions Toulouse who ended up seventh in their group after a 28-0 loss against Cardiff was imposed on them in the final round of matches as a result of Covid cases.
So, hosting the runners up in the English domestic Championship and the winners of the French means that it will not be easy to get more than one Irish team into the final eight but confidence is high in the Irish camps and there is a possibility of a second blockbuster InterPro tie in the knockout quarterfinal round.
Wins for Ulster and Munster would set up a very tempting clash between the two provinces. Ulster would have the home advantage but again there is a possibility of switching from the 18,000 capacity Kingspan Stadium to the 52,000 seater Aviva Stadium on the first weekend in May.
On top of a full stadium capacity for the three home fixtures in the Men’s Six Nations against Wales, Italy and Scotland, the draw presents another opportunity for the provinces to secure significant paydays, and reward their sponsors who have stuck by them.
Sport for Business Perspective:
“It matters most what happens on the field of play but the way the cards have fallen in the playing out of the Round of 16 and the Quarter Finals have given Irish Rugby the opportunity to secure more than 68,000 additional ticket sales through switching marquee matchups to the Aviva Stadium. At an average cost per ticket of €40 that could mean a bonus of up to €2.7 million this season.”
