Rugby Digest

A round-up of today's other stories in brief

Ulster win the toss for home dressingroom

Ulster yesterday won the toss for to occupy the home dressingroom at the Aviva Stadium for their Heineken Cup semi-final against Edinburgh, which will take place Saturday week.

Over 40,000 tickets have been sold for the match, around 2,000-3,000 to Edinburgh fans, for what is Ulster's first visit to the stadium since its redevelopment and first since the last game at the old Lansdowne Road, aka The Last Stand, which Leinster won by 20-12 on New Year's Eve 2006.

Were it to reach a 50,000 sell-out attendance, it would eclipse Ulster's record attendance of 49,000 which witnessed their last Heineken Cup match at the ground, namely their win in the final over Colomiers in 1999, and is already set to better the Edinburgh record of nearly 38,000 for their quarter-final victory over Toulouse at Murrayfield just a fortnight ago.

Lansdowne have confirmed their last Ulster Bank League game of the season at home to title-chasing Clontarf on Saturday has been moved to the main pitch at the Aviva Stadium.

Tickets for the game are priced at €10 and can be purchased in either the Lansdowne or Clontarf club houses.

Clontarf trail St Mary's by two points heading into Saturday's finale, with the St Mary's encounter against Young Munster set for Templeville Road (which will also kick off at 2.30pm) to be televised live by RTÉ.

Leinster face May 12th semi-final at the RDS

Leinster will play their RaboDirect Pro 12 semi-final on Saturday, May 12th, at the RDS (7.35pm). The province confirmed their place by beating Edinburgh last weekend. They will face the team that finishes fourth.

The other semi-final will see the second- and third-placed teams clash on Friday, May 11th (7.35), with the club that finishes runners-up to Leinster in the league earning home advantage. Round 21 this weekend features two games between top six teams; Ulster v Leinster at Ravenhill tomorrow night and Scarlets v Munster at Parc y Scarlets on Saturday.

The Ospreys are set for an emotional night at the Liberty Stadium tomorrow as they mark the final home tie for legendary wing Shane Williams when the Dragons visit.