Ireland to play Springboks in new Aviva Stadium

RUGBY NEWSTHE IRFU yesterday confirmed that reigning World Champions South Africa will be the first international opposition to play Ireland in the new Aviva Stadium on November 6th, 2010. As this is an additional match before scheduled games against Samoa, New Zealand and Argentina, Ireland will, for the first time ever, play four games in that autumnal window.

All four will be played in the 50,000 capacity Aviva Stadium, which is due to be handed over to the Irish Rugby Football Union and Football Association of Ireland upon completion in April next year. The historical significance of the game will also see the age old international rugby tradition where the home team changes its jersey if there is a colour clash relaxed for this special occasion.

For the game in the Aviva Stadium, the South African Rugby Union has agreed to wear an alternative strip to allow the Ireland team to wear its own traditional green jersey.

Commenting on the announcement IRFU chief executive Philip Browne said, “This is the first time that we have played a fourth international Test match in November and the new Aviva Stadium will be a fitting venue for the game to take place in. The Aviva Stadium promises to become an iconic landmark for Irish sport and we are delighted that world champions South Africa have agreed to be the opposition for the game.”

The first official game in the stadium will be a rugby match and will take place, most probably, on August 9th or 10th. This will be a day or two prior to the first football international to be played in the new stadium between the Republic of Ireland and Argentina on August 11th, as the new stadium facilitates a quick turnaround between the two sports.

The first match staged in the old Lansdowne Road was between Leinster and Ulster, as indeed was the last game prior to its redevelopment. Thus, while the Union would be entitled to re-enact that fixture for the official opening, more probably they will opt for a more politically agreeable game combining all four provinces, for example Leinster and Ulster against Munster and Connacht, despite the difficulties in playing players in pre-season.

Next summer, Ireland will finish their season with games against New Zealand and Australia, the latter in Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium on June 10th. The Test against the All Blacks, on June 12th, is due to take place in the Yarrow Stadium in New Plymouth, which will also host three games in the 2011 Rugby World Cup, including Ireland v the second American qualifier, most likely to be the USA.

Home to Taranaki’s rugby team, Yarrow Stadium (also known as Stadium Taranaki) is an international-standard sports, entertainment and conference facility featuring sports fields, grandstand seating and function rooms and was named the third best rugby stadium on earth by New Zealand Rugby World magazine in last May 2009, behind the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, first and the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. Croke Park came in fourth, ahead of Twickenham, followed by Perpignan’s Stade Aime Giral, Newlands in Cape Town, the Greenyards in Melrose, Scotland, with Thomond Park ninth ahead of Rome’s Stadio Flamino.

The IRFU are in negotiations for an additional game on June 19th, which in all probability will take place in New Zealand and in particular the Union are exploring the option of playing the New Zealand Maoris.