Croke Park a possible venue for grand final

RUGBY:IF THE inaugural Magners League grand final includes two Irish provinces then Croke Park will be considered as a venue, in a repeat of last season's Heineken Cup semi-final between Leinster and Munster, Celtic Rugby chief David Jordan has confirmed.

Celtic Rugby have set a deadline of March 8th for all clubs to nominate a home venue should they reach the final, scheduled for May 29th, if they finish as the highest ranked team from the regular season. Leinster will chose the RDS Showgrounds and Munster will go for Thomond Park, while it remains unclear if Ravenhill would be able to cater for a final. Naturally, Murrayfield and the Millennium Stadium would be the obvious places to showcase a final in Scotland and Wales.

An 18,000 capacity along with suitable broadcasting and corporate facilities are required to stage the event but a Leinster versus Munster showdown at Croke Park would be a dream inaugural final for Celtic Rugby.

It remains the obvious venue for an all-Irish final, especially considering the demand for tickets that would follow – incidentally, the fixture is a week after the European decider, but all teams are permitted to put forward a second option.

“The teams involved can nominate an alternative venue,” said Jordan yesterday. “After that it is up to Celtic rugby to assess that. It is a little premature to be thinking about that now but from a practical point of view we can work out all the possibilities should such a situation arise.

“There will only be two weeks between our semi-finals and the grand final so we will try and anticipate where the final may be hosted so we can be ready to go.”

Croke Park Stadium’s director Peter McKenna was understandably hesitant to comment on hosting another major rugby match before next April’s GAA annual congress vote on the issue. Congress is widely expected to give permanent power to Central Council to decide on renting out the stadium for major events when they arise. International rugby and soccer will permanently return to the newly-renovated Aviva Stadium in August.

This situation, like last season, could also arise for the knockout stages of the Heineken Cup.

Current GAA president Christy Cooney, who was against the current agreement to allow the use of Croke Park for international soccer and rugby matches while their headquarters was being modernised, admitted last week that he believes congress will pass the decision on the use of Croke Park to Central Council on a permanent basis. The cost of renting out Croke Park for a sporting event is €1.3 million.

There are no GAA fixtures in the stadium on the weekend of May 29th. There is a Westlife concert on June 5th. “We can’t close the door on (Croke Park) but our first choice would be the RDS,” said a Leinster spokesman. “But we can’t really decide upon this until after a semi-final, presuming we reach that stage.”

A provisional kick-off time of 6.30pm has been made for the grand final, brought in this season to evolve the competitive levels of the Magners League by adopting the Super 14 (southern hemisphere tournament) model.

“Getting the date and proposed kick-off time for the grand final was the first step, along with underlining the format for the play-off matches,” Jordan continued.

“As stated at the start of the season, the top four teams in the regular league will progress into the play-offs, with the top two teams enjoying home advantage.

“With no pre-determined venue for the staging of the grand final, the board has agreed the following principles to determine where the biggest game in the history of the Magners League shall be played.

“The team that reaches the grand final having achieved the highest finishing position in the regular Magners League shall have the right to nominate a venue of more than 18,000 capacity within its own union’s jurisdiction to host the game.

“All nominated venues will have to meet with the approval of the Celtic Rugby board, and its commercial requirements, and, in the unlikely event of neither finalist being able to nominate a suitable venue, the board will take the game to a ground of its choice.”