Leinster fans face possible Amlin Challenge Cup final ticket shortage

Many of Leinster's season ticket holders may expect disappointment if Joe Schmidt's team beat last year's winners Biarritz at the RDS on April 27th and gain entry to their first Amlin Challenge final.

Tickets for the Amlin final, at the RDS on May 17th, will be split between the two finalists as well as those fans who are currently buying them through the organisers, European Rugby Cup (ERC).

However, only up to 2,800 tickets will be shared between the two teams who make it to the RDS. If Leinster reach the final, they will face the winners of Perpignan and Stade Francais Paris and in that case, it is likely that they will end up with more than 2,000 of the finalists' ticket allocation.

Tickets for the final have been on public sale since May 2012, and of the 13,700 sold to date, 70 per debt have been bought by Irish-based purchasers, which may indicate that Leinster fans are already ahead of the posse although it’s not known how many of the Irish tickets are Leinster-bought.

With 13,700 sold, and 2,800 allocated to the finalists, the remaining 1,500 tickets (RDS capacity: 18,000) for the final (KO 8pm) will be made available to ERC stakeholders, unions, commercial partners and media.

But given Leinster’s popularity, there could still be a local ticket crisis if they are finalists. The club would easily fill the RDS and possibly sell double that amount of tickets if the final was being staged in a larger venue.

However, the match will remain in the RDS regardless of ticket demand as the Heineken Cup final is being staged in Aviva Stadium the following day.

Should Munster be in that final it’s a possible that 68,000 rugby fans will flood into Dublin over that May weekend.