Leinster’s Hugo Keenan and Ciaran Frawley with Gavin Coombes and Alex Nankivell of Munster in the province's meeting last December at Thomond Park(Image: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne)

Leinster v Munster Croke Park tickets selling out fast as milestone reached

The first URC head to head of the season between bitter rivals Leinster Rugby and Munster Rugby will be played at the GAA's iconic headquarters

by · Irish Mirror

Leinster's home URC clash with Munster at Croke Park is heading towards a sell-out.

The Blues say that the 70,000 ticket mark has now been surpassed for the first interpro clash between the rivals of the new season on Saturday week.

Croker has been a happy hunting ground for Leinster in the past, both in terms of results and tickets sold.

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The province previously broke rugby records with capacity attendances for the Champions Cup semi-finals against Munster in 2009 (82,208 tickets sold) and against Northampton last season.

A packed-out attendance of 82,300 against the Saints set a new record for an EPCR fixture, with tickets selling out within 36 hours of going on sale.

Such is the level of interest in the October 12 encounter that 55,000 tickets were sold before the new URC season had kicked off. Interest has remained high, with a surge in ticket sales last weekend.

Leinster have been forced to move their home games away from the RDS Arena this season as the ground is redeveloped.

They opened up their home account at the Aviva Stadium last Friday with a victory over the Dragons and will play most of their home games at the Dublin 4 venue, but will cross the Liffey for the Munster game and, perhaps, for some big knock-out Champions Cup games down the line.

Leinster have won their first two games of the new URC season, earning 10 points in the process to top the table at this early stage. Leo Cullen's side take on Benetton in Treviso on Saturday.

Munster won a thrilling home collision with Connacht on the opening weekend only to suffer a shock defeat at Zebre last Saturday. The Reds host Ospreys at Virgin Media Park in Cork on Saturday night.

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