The United Rugby Championship has shuffled its deck of fixtures and created the opportunity to move the postponed Christmas Derby between Munster and Leinster to the final week of fixtures in this year’s tournament on the weekend of May 20th to 22nd.
With Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh originally due to play Leinster and Munster in Round 18, those games will now be played on February 11 to allow the Edinburgh v Glasgow Warriors from round nine and Munster v Leinster from round eight games to take place on the final weekend of the regular season (May 20/21/22).
The location of the Munster game has yet to be confirmed due to Thomond Park hosting a run of Ed Sheeran Concerts only two weeks beforehand.
“We are currently reviewing the feasibility of playing a game on the pitch two weeks after the concerts,” said Munster Rugby CEO Ian Flanagan.
“In meeting all requirements and prioritising our commercial partners, 10-Year Ticket Holders, and Season Ticket Holders we will do everything possible in exhausting all avenues to play the game at Thomond Park.”
Thomond does not have the capacity of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London which can roll the pitch out of the arena to create multi-use surfaces. It has to be hoped though that a solution will be possible given advances in pitch technology and the erection of temporary facilities.
It would not be possible or desirable to forego the revenue that the concerts would produce. Two alternatives could be to look for a move to Pairc Uí Caoimh or to reverse the fixture and stage it at the Aviva Stadium, possible with an agreement between the provinces to reverse that switch next season or the year after.
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It would not be possible or desirable to forego the revenue that the concerts would produce. Two alternatives could be to look for a move to Pairc Uí Caoimh or to reverse the fixture and stage it at the Aviva Stadium, possible with an agreement between the provinces to reverse that switch next season or the year after.
