Oct 12,2024
It's set to be a record-breaking weekend in the BKT United Rugby Championship, as Croke Park opens its gates to the URC for the very first time.
All 82,300 tickets for Leinster and Munster at GAA HQ at 5.45pm on Saturday evening have been sold, = shattering the previous record, which was set at the Principality Stadium in Wales, when 68,262 people turned up for a 'Judgement Day’ double-header.
It will also dwarf the highest figure for an individual match in the URC, 56,344, which came in Cape Town for the 2023 final between Stormers and Munster.
Leinster v Munster is the first of an Interpro double-header on Saturday evening.
At 8pm, Ulster welcome an in-form Connacht to Kingspan Stadium, looking to bounce back after losing twice on their recent South African tour.
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We'll have live updates, live scoring, reports and reaction from both games on rte.ie/sport.
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All games are also shown live on URC.tv.
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WEATHER
There should be ideal rugby conditions at Croke Park for the meeting of Leinster and Munster on Saturday evening, with clear and dry weather expected, and temperatures around 10C by the 5.45pm kick-off, while there is moderate wind forecast.
Ulster and Connacht should also have favourable conditions, with some earlier showers expected to clear up by early evening. It's likley to get quite cold late in the evening, however, with tempeartures around 6C.
Fifteen years on from their one and only previous meeting at Croke Park, Leinster and Munster's supporters will descend on Jones’ Road for what will be a record-breaking crowd for a URC game.
Leinster have been back at Croke Park since that Champions Cup semi-final win in 2009, defeating Northampton Saints in the last four of that competition in May of this year. This will be the province’s first time hosting a URC game at GAA HQ.
Leo Cullen’s side sit top of the table with a perfect 15 points from a possible 15, and continue to hold the better of their recent meetings with Munster, winning 12 of their last 14 clashes.
However, the more recent derbies between the sides have been closely fought, with each of the last four contests being one-score games.
Munster are third in the table heading into the weekend, and responded impressively to their shock defeat to Zebre in Italy by defeating Ospreys 23-0 in dreadful weather conditions in Cork last weekend.
Having made his debut for Leinster last week, double World Cup-winning second row RG Snyman will make his first home appearance for his new side against his former province, having played 20 times in an injury-hit four-year spell at Munster.
The two sides have met on 170 previous occasions, since the first in 1877, with Leinster winning 109, Munster winning 50 and 11 draws.
Leinster: Hugo Keenan; Liam Turner, Garry Ringrose, Jamie Osborne, James Lowe; Ciarán Frawley, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Lee Barron, Tadhg Furlong; RG Snyman, James Ryan; Jack Conan, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris (capt)
Replacements: Gus McCarthy, Cian Healy, Thomas Clarkson, Ryan Baird, Max Deegan, Luke McGrath, Ross Byrne, Harry Byrne
Munster: Mike Haley; Calvin Nash, Tom Farrell, Alex Nankivell, Seán O'Brien; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Jeremy Loughman, Niall Scannell, Stephen Archer; Jean Kleyn, Tadhg Beirne (capt); Jack O'Donoghue, John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: Diarmuid Barron, Kieran Ryan, John Ryan, Tom Ahern, Ruadhán Quinn, Conor Murray, Tony Butler, Shay McCarthy.
Referee: Chris Busby (IRFU)
Ulster and Connacht come into this derby in a contrasting run of form.
Richie Murphy's Ulster side had a rousing 20-19 win against defending champions Glasgow Warriors at home on the opening weekend, but defeats to the Lions and Bulls on their South African tour have left them 13th in the table heading into this weekend’s Interpro in Belfast.
It’s been the opposite story for Connacht, who lost to Munster away in Round 1 after a game they probably should have won, but Pete Wilkins’ side have since bounced back with thrilling wins over the Sharks and Scarlets, which sets them up well for this trip to Belfast.
Ulster won when the sides last met at Kingspan Stadium in December 2023, but the western province did pull off an impressive victory on their previous trip to Belfast in the URC quarter-final in May of that year. That contributes to a respectable three wins from their last eight trips to Ulster.
The pair have a mixed record in recent Interpros, with Ulster winning four of their last eight against Irish provinces, while Connacht have only one victory in their last six derbies.
Crucially for Ulster, however, the province beat Connacht, Munster and Leinster in Belfast last season.
Ulster: Ethan McIlroy; Werner Kok, Stewart Moore, Jude Postlethwaite, Jacob Stockdale; Aidan Morgan, John Cooney; Andrew Warwick, John Andrew, Tom O'Toole; Iain Henderson (C), Kieran Treadwell; David McCann, Sean Reffell, Nick Timoney.
Replacements: James McCormick, Callum Reid, Corrie Barrett, Alan O’Connor, Marcus Rea, Nathan Doak, Ben Carson, Mike Lowry.
Connacht: Santiago Cordero; Mack Hansen, Piers O'Conor, Bundee Aki, Shayne Bolton;Josh Ioane, Ben Murphy; Denis Buckley, Dave Heffernan, Finlay Bealham; Joe Joyce, Josh Murphy; Cian Prendergast (C), Sean O'Brien, Paul Boyle.
Replacements: Dylan Tierney-Martin, Peter Dooley, Temi Lasisi, Oisín Dowling, David O’Connor, Caolin Blade, Cathal Forde, Conor Oliver.
Referee: Andy Brace (IRFU)
Elsewhere, defending champions Glasgow Warriors will get Round 4 under way when they host Zebre Parma on Friday night, looking for a third successive win.
On Saturday at 3pm there's a Welsh derby as Cardiff face the Scarlets, while at the same time bottom of the table Benetton take on Sharks.
Edinburgh welcome Stormers to the Scottish capital, still waiting for their first win of the season, with the Ospreys hosting the Bulls.
Dragons and the Lions round off the weekend at Rodney Parade on Sunday.
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