Was leaving Fortress Donnybrook the mistake?

Gerry Thornley On RugbyOne question still rankles more than most. Were the IRFU/Leinster Branch right to move the province's matches from Donnybrook to Lansdowne Road?

It doesn't much matter now, and it mightn't have made any difference anyway, but there must be people within those organisations, and certainly within the playing staff and expanding support base, who are asking it.

Of course, that very same support base would probably never have expanded to such a degree had the switch not been made. Initially, for the pre-Christmas opener against Biarritz it made little or no difference to the attendance, but ultimately over twice as many people (about 45,000) watched Leinster's games in Lansdowne Road as would have been the case with three capacity attendances at Donnybrook.

Furthermore, because of the additional seating in Lansdowne Road compared to Donnybrook (where virtually all the 1,100 seats are pre-sold to officials, sponsors and the like) not only were parents more likely to take their children to covered seating, but the receipts also produced something in the region of €500,000 more for the IRFU/Leinster Branch.

Whether Leinster would have won all three home games had they been played at Donnybrook we will never know, and it could be that they would have lost to Sale anyway, but that was the one that got away, and it's worth remembering that Leinster had built up quite a momentum at Donnybrook - winning 11 and drawing one of a dozen matches there over the last four years.

It's an intangible thing that cannot be measured in points, but the players had built up an affinity with the place. The supporters, much closer to the pitch, had given the ground an atmosphere that only a full Lansdowne Road would emulate.

Setting this additional €500,000 or so against the profits, profile and general feel good factor for Leinster and Irish rugby had they made the quarter-finals by dint of winning all their home games in Donnybrook is still a valid conundrum. Would it be worth sacrificing such a sum for reaching the quarter-finals? If so, might Leinster have been better staying in Donnybrook?

None of this would be an issue had Nigel Whitehouse awarded Malcolm O'Kelly a try when the Irish lock stole a Sale lineout in injury time, or had Matt Leek landed an injury time drop goal attempt. However, the debate has been given added substance by the almost apoplectic reaction from Munster to the notion that they might be asked to move their quarter-final against Stade Francais from Thomond Park to Lansdowne Road.

Indeed, one Munster insider goes so far as to say: "Shouldn't we learn from Leinster's example?" For them it is inconceivable that Munster would sacrifice the intangible, now almost mystical advantage of playing hosts to teams at Thomond Park, where they have never been beaten in a European Cup tie.

There is one important difference, though, for unlike pool games where the home sides keep all the receipts, the additional money to be accrued from a quarter-final have to be shared.

Thus, Munster moving their quarter-final to Lansdowne Road might only yield the IRFU/Munster Branch a dividend of about €250,000. It's a lot of money from one match, but one ventures even the Red Army supporters would sacrifice the probability of obtaining tickets for a quarter-final in exchange for the more remote possibility of being at Thomond Park on April 10th. It wouldn't be worth jeopardising the team's quarter-final prospects.

Reaching the semi-finals must surely be the primary aim, and there's little doubt that remaining in their Thomond citadel enhances their chances. The European Cup is Munster's holy grail, and at today's semi-final draw, by the law of averages, surely the Minister for Sport, John O'Donoghue, will not have Munster France-bound for the fifth year running?

The quarter-finals could hardly be set up more intriguingly, after pool stages which, on the face of it, have been better than last season. More crowds and more exposure, albeit mostly on satellite television, more twists and turns, and more memorable games.

The additional profile and spin-off of the World Cup undoubtedly had an effect, while the bonus points system added to the intrigue, encouraging teams to go for tries more, especially as the cut-off points for qualification neared, without leaving the final pecking order to an unseemly dash for tries a la Biarritz's 13-try romp against Cardiff a year ago.

Nevertheless, it's worth noting that, as with the World Cup, it wouldn't have altered the eight qualifiers. Indeed, applying last year's rules, the quarter-final line-up would only have been moderately different, with Wasps at home to Edinburgh, Munster at home to Gloucester and Toulouse at home to Stade, with Llanelli still welcoming Biarritz in the other tie.

The Irish teams again punched their weight, emerging with the highest winning ratio (66 per cent), ahead of the English (55 per cent), the French (52 per cent), the Scottish (50 per cent), the Welsh (46 per cent) and the Italians (8 per cent).

Despite their sluggish start, it was always likely that the French would gather momentum, given they only had three rounds of domestic championship games before the first two rounds of the European Cup.

Stade Francais, with 14 players in the World Cup themselves, will assuredly gain more cohesion come April than they've had up to now, and it is unlikely that their players will have to carry such a Six Nations load as Munster will.

It was ever thus for Munster, but at least they will be at home and, one trusts, their true home.

gthornley@irish-times.ie