Kingspan Stadium to Host Pro12 Final

by Kingshu Mon 26 Jan - 10:21

First topic message reminder :

New development for the League,

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/30980843

Final is going to be annoced in advance from now on,

TBH I don't like this idea at all.

All the hosts of the final so far have been able to sell it out before hand, it rewards the team that finishes higher in the league, and what happens is say the final is Ospreys V Glasgow are all these fans expected to travel to Belfast?

Better have the higher team in the League host it, other wise I can see the final being mostly played out in with mostly neutral crowds.

by LordDowlais Mon 26 Jan - 12:38

HammerofThunor wrote:
LordDowlais wrote:
HammerofThunor wrote:
LordDowlais wrote:
HammerofThunor wrote:Used the MS for what? A game organised a few weeks in advance? Or a game that was organised months in advance?

A few weeks. I remember, becuase I went there, I think it was for the highest attended Pro12 game.

Which game was that?

I think it was in 2005/2006 when they played Leinster, they were looking for a bumper crowd but never got it, it was still a record at the time though.

But when was it organised? It was announced two weeks before the game but that doesn't mean it was organised then. If Blues left until two weeks before the game to organise a replacement venue they needed to be shot. It was probably months in the planning.

It wasn't though, I remember it, they decided about a fortnight, to three weeks before the game, and they were banging the drums for people to come and break the record for the Celtic league.

by LordDowlais Mon 26 Jan - 12:43

Don Alfonso wrote:I don't like it. Top team should have home advantage. That shouldn't change. Otherwsie why fight to get to the top? It's a nonsense.

Of course, when Ulster did top the table, before the stadium was redeveloped and was big enough, we had to play our "home" final in Dublin. Against Leinster. Which we narrowly lost. I might check back to see just how incandescent with rage LordDowlais was on our behalf. I'm sure he was disgusted.

So you'll have to excuse Ulster fans if we don't feel that everything has consistently been set up for our benefit.

Having said that - the most important point is my first.

Oh, and I will buy tickets the minute they go on sale.

To be honest Dan I probably did not care, as it did not affect me, but this year I was hoping to be given a chance to watch the final of the league I support without having to break the bank. This has now been taken away from me, along with a lot of other Welsh supporters. Wether Ospreys get to the final or not, I will not be going, this could have been a chance for Ospreys to get those much needed extra fans they want, but why strive to get to the top of the league now, when finishing in the top four could be enough. There are ample stadiums in Wales that could have been used, but hey ho, it looks like this league should be privvy for the Irish only. Our sides are just a means to an end, and end that always seems to end up in Ireland.

by HammerofThunor Mon 26 Jan - 12:45

LordDowlais wrote:
HammerofThunor wrote:
LordDowlais wrote:
HammerofThunor wrote:
LordDowlais wrote:
HammerofThunor wrote:Used the MS for what? A game organised a few weeks in advance? Or a game that was organised months in advance?

A few weeks. I remember, becuase I went there, I think it was for the highest attended Pro12 game.

Which game was that?

I think it was in 2005/2006 when they played Leinster, they were looking for a bumper crowd but never got it, it was still a record at the time though.

But when was it organised? It was announced two weeks before the game but that doesn't mean it was organised then. If Blues left until two weeks before the game to organise a replacement venue they needed to be shot. It was probably months in the planning.

It wasn't though, I remember it, they decided about a fortnight, to three weeks before the game, and they were banging the drums for people to come and break the record for the Celtic league.

How do you know when it was decided? And by decided you mean finalised? When did the planning start?

by LordDowlais Mon 26 Jan - 12:49

HammerofThunor wrote:
LordDowlais wrote:
HammerofThunor wrote:
LordDowlais wrote:
HammerofThunor wrote:
LordDowlais wrote:
HammerofThunor wrote:Used the MS for what? A game organised a few weeks in advance? Or a game that was organised months in advance?

A few weeks. I remember, becuase I went there, I think it was for the highest attended Pro12 game.

Which game was that?

I think it was in 2005/2006 when they played Leinster, they were looking for a bumper crowd but never got it, it was still a record at the time though.

But when was it organised? It was announced two weeks before the game but that doesn't mean it was organised then. If Blues left until two weeks before the game to organise a replacement venue they needed to be shot. It was probably months in the planning.

It wasn't though, I remember it, they decided about a fortnight, to three weeks before the game, and they were banging the drums for people to come and break the record for the Celtic league.

How do you know when it was decided? And by decided you mean finalised? When did the planning start?

I do not know when the planning "started", you will have to ask the powers to be that, I only remember it being announced a few weeks prior, and it did get a few of us excited, it did not get the crowd they were expecting though, which was a shame, and it was a record at the time, which has now been well and truley smashed by the Leinster V Munster game at the Aviva.

by HammerofThunor Mon 26 Jan - 12:52

Right, so it was just announced a couple of weeks before. Not "decided". So you have no idea how much planning goes into these thing nor how long it would take to organise thumbsup

by LordDowlais Mon 26 Jan - 12:54

HammerofThunor wrote:Right, so it was just announced a couple of weeks before. Not "decided". So you have no idea how much planning goes into these thing nor how long it would take to organise

Do you think what has happened is fair then ?

by Kingshu Mon 26 Jan - 13:03

I think a few important points are being missed.

1) Final is now played one week after semi final due to Euro Cup being moved,

This means the normal two weeks to sell out a home final is gone and one week is not enough time to arrange it all.

Hence the Pro 12 have to have a Venue decided in advance.

(I don't like it but can now understand why it is being set up like this)

Venues to host first final, old rule was min 18,000
SRU
Murryfield - too big for the first final

WRU
MS - too big for the first final
Liberity - Possible
rest to small

FIR
National stadium to big

IRFU
Aviva - too big
Ravenhill - possible
RDS - possible
Thomond Park - possible

So it was between Ravenhill, RDS, Thomond and the Liberity - Belfasts bid of the four must have been the best, not really a surprise its in Ireland as there was only one suitable Stadium outside of Ireland.

Don't think Welsh fans can get anymore annoyied about the final being in Ravenhill, than Muster or Leinster fans.

We don't have a lot of Munster fans giving out that Thomond wasn't picked, likewise we should have a lot of Welsh fans giving out that The Liberity wasn't picked.

by Sin é Mon 26 Jan - 13:06

LordDowlais wrote:
HammerofThunor wrote:
LordDowlais wrote:
HammerofThunor wrote:I think these things usually take more than a couple of weeks to arrange. There is a reason why they get announced early.

Well how have they done it up until now ?

Because it's the local club ground. You're proposing the national stadiums that have 50000+ seats. These grounds are often used for other things, have limitations and requirements for hosting big games, require additional transport, etc.

Whats the difference, Cardiff Blues have used the MS before, and to quite a sucsess as well. I am not buying into this, it is hard enough to get fans to support the regions as it is, there is not enough interest, and the way the Pro12 is being run does not help, this will not go down well with the supporters of the Welsh regions.

The MS is a lot more expensive to hire than Ravenhill. The PRO12 League usually dress the stadium as neutral and take all the ticket money anyway.

How many local supporters would turn up in the MS if the final was between Glasgow & Ulster?

edit: Hardly surprising that the Union Run PRO12 would select Ravenhill for the first final as a) they missed out on hosting a final because of the redevelopment; b) its has been redeveloped to 18K c) its is owned by a Union (unlike most other stadia available of the correct capacity). By my reckoning, Ravenhill & Thomond Park are the only Union owned grounds with a capacity of between 18-30K capacity.

by IanBru Mon 26 Jan - 13:07

All I can say is that I'm incredibly disappointed by this decision.

Please understand this is not a dig at Ulster per se, but I can't see any justification for this, and if (or possibly when) Glasgow or Ospreys reach the final as league leaders, they will have been cheated.

The early ticket-purchase argument is utterly moot - why would anyone buy match and plane tickets to a final they weren't sure their team would reach? The earliest they would buy is once the final whistle has blown in their play-off which, amazingly, is about 24 hours before they would have last year. Isn't that a great advantage to bestow on the fans that could have been hosting the final under the previous rules? No, thought not.

When we also hear that the events around the city will be hosted and sponsored by Guinness (and let's not forget, the season launch event was at Guinness' London headquarters which, if I recall correctly, isn't in Wales, Ireland, Scotland or Italy), my suspicion that this is a giant corporate stitch-up seems more and more justified.

So thanks Pro12, you can fornicate with yourselves for all I care.

by Guest Mon 26 Jan - 13:11

Liberty.

It isn't being held at Ravenhill, it's being held at the Kingspan Stadium isn't it?

So what are these guys saying that reckon there'll be a final in Italy, within four years then?

You don't see many Munster fans giving out, as I'm sure they probably know they'll host a final soon enough.

by LordDowlais Mon 26 Jan - 13:13

Kingshu wrote:So it was between Ravenhill, RDS, Thomond and the Liberity - Belfasts bid of the four must have been the best, not really a surprise its in Ireland as there was only one suitable Stadium outside of Ireland.

So as Swansea was the only other place, the odds were stacked very much in Ireland's favour. This is what the argument is about, it will always be stacked in Ireland's favour, because the rules that are made only favour the Irish. The fact is, every final has been played in Ireland, so even with this new way of doing it, it should have been more or less given to another country, not put up for auction, Ireland have had the final aver year so far, it was a very strong possibility that it could have gone to Glasgow or Swansea this time, but they found a way of keeping it in Ireland after all.

by Chunky Norwich Mon 26 Jan - 13:17

Risca Rev wrote:

You don't see many Munster fans giving out, as I'm sure they probably know they'll host a final soon enough.

They're not best pleased on their forum. But then they are not much of a barometer for the sane.

by Don Alfonso Mon 26 Jan - 13:18

LordDowlais wrote:To be honest Dan I probably did not care, as it did not affect me

Quite. You can count on exactly the same solidarity from me now.

I'm sorry, I agree with you (although I think King makes a valid point above about the final being moved to a week after the semi), but your sneering tone seriously antagonises me.

by LordDowlais Mon 26 Jan - 13:18

IanBru wrote:All I can say is that I'm incredibly disappointed by this decision.

Please understand this is not a dig at Ulster per se, but I can't see any justification for this, and if (or possibly when) Glasgow or Ospreys reach the final as league leaders, they will have been cheated.

The early ticket-purchase argument is utterly moot - why would anyone buy match and plane tickets to a final they weren't sure their team would reach? The earliest they would buy is once the final whistle has blown in their play-off which, amazingly, is about 24 hours before they would have last year. Isn't that a great advantage to bestow on the fans that could have been hosting the final under the previous rules? No, thought not.

When we also hear that the events around the city will be hosted and sponsored by Guinness (and let's not forget, the season launch event was at Guinness' London headquarters which, if I recall correctly, isn't in Wales, Ireland, Scotland or Italy), my suspicion that this is a giant corporate stitch-up seems more and more justified.

So thanks Pro12, you can fornicate with yourselves for all I care.

by LordDowlais Mon 26 Jan - 13:22

Don Alfonso wrote:
LordDowlais wrote:To be honest Dan I probably did not care, as it did not affect me

Quite. You can count on exactly the same solidarity from me now.

I'm sorry, I agree with you (although I think King makes a valid point above about the final being moved to a week after the semi), but your sneering tone seriously antagonises me.

I am not sneering, I am furious, I was hoping for a final in Wales between Ospreys and who ever, whether Ospreys get to the final or not now does not matter, because there is no way I will be forking out the best part of a grand to go and watch them in Belfast. Don't you get it ? This is bigger than you or I, it is not Ulster rugby's fault, imagine Ospreys in a final in Swansea, they could have banged the drums and got a fair few extra fans there, fans who might enjoy the day out and come again, that is now gone, the opportunity has been taken away, so I am not sneering, I am spitting feathers. steam

by geoff998rugby Mon 26 Jan - 13:27

LordDowlais wrote:
Kingshu wrote:With a bit of luck after this year it will revert back to the old system.

If an Irish Province finishes top of the pile you mean ?

Depends if there are 2 weeks between the SF and Final - I suspect that was tha mian driving force in the decision.

As I said above Liberty is being used, that weekend, for what could be the biggest soccer game of the season - it is effectively not available. Thats what happens when you share a ground with a sport with bigger financial clout

by geoff998rugby Mon 26 Jan - 13:28

Chunky Norwich wrote:
Notch wrote: The only conspiracy is a crazy plan to sell more tickets

How will this sell more tickets?

Sell it to me.

Because Irish fans will go to the game even if 2 teams from elsewhere are playing.
Not true for the other countries in the Pro12

by **Notch** Mon 26 Jan - 13:29

Swansea will have its chance to host a Final in the next five, guarantee it. If not Swansea then Cardiff.

by **rodders** Mon 26 Jan - 13:32

I think given that Swansea, or Wales generally isn't a nice place, nor is Glasgow and given that Edinburgh and the Italian teams aren't in the mix this was probably the most attractive and least expensive option for final for all fans.

can't understand this reaction at all.

by Chunky Norwich Mon 26 Jan - 13:32

geoff998rugby wrote:
Chunky Norwich wrote:
Notch wrote: The only conspiracy is a crazy plan to sell more tickets

How will this sell more tickets?

Sell it to me.

Because Irish fans will go to the game even if 2 teams from elsewhere are playing.
Not true for the other countries in the Pro12

I said sell it to me. Tell me why I should buy a ticket for this when they are released next week.

by Weegie Wizard Mon 26 Jan - 13:33

The problem is that it might be only Irish fans at the game anyway.

The whole point of announcing this early will be so they can sell the tickets early as well. No Glasgow or Ospreys fan in their right mind will shell out for a ticket and travel unless they know their team is involved.

Surely that means, if Ulster look like they will be in the semis, it will be full of Ulster fans with a few from Dublin irrespective of what teams are involved.

by LordDowlais Mon 26 Jan - 13:34

rodders wrote:I think given that Swansea, or Wales generally isn't a nice place

Yeah, cheers for that, and Ireland is the garden of eden now is it ?

by Chunky Norwich Mon 26 Jan - 13:35

Weegie Wizard wrote:The problem is that it might be only Irish fans at the game anyway.

The whole point of announcing this early will be so they can sell the tickets early as well. No Glasgow or Ospreys fan in their right mind will shell out for a ticket and travel unless they know their team is involved.

Surely that means, if Ulster look like they will be in the semis, it will be full of Ulster fans with a few from Dublin irrespective of what teams are involved.

Ulster get an allocation as part of a package hosting the game anyway. Regardless if they even finish top 4.

by geoff998rugby Mon 26 Jan - 13:37

I really dont see why Ireland should apologise for having the only 3 grounds with 18,000+ capacity which are not shared with soccer or the National stadium.
I dont see why Ireland should apologise for the fact the sponsor is Irish. A sponsor who is putting money into the hands of all 12 teams.
I also do not see why Ireland should apologise for having by far the biggest crowd and the only teams who take more than a handful of supporters to away game and as such make the package more attractive to TV.

Fact is we have achieved a measure of success.
The best response is to match that.
The alternative is to be permanent failures.

I'm actually more optimistic that Scotland will improve than Wales - never thought I'd say that

by Chunky Norwich Mon 26 Jan - 13:38

There's just such a lack of care from across the water. The majority really do not give a monkeys what happens outside of their emerald haven do they.

I'm alright jack.

by IanBru Mon 26 Jan - 13:40

Notch wrote:Swansea will have its chance to host a Final in the next five, guarantee it. If not Swansea then Cardiff.

Yes, but who is to say that Ospreys (or any welsh team) will even be there? There is nothing to guarantee that any team will ever be able to play a final in front of their home support.

If I'm at the head of the McDonalds queue and someone walks from behind me and makes his order, I would be justifiably cheesed off. I would feel that I deserved my food now, because I followed the rules as I had understood them (the Queueing Act 1923, Schedule 3, which relates to fast food queuing... Wink

). It's no comfort when the rebellious burger fiend says "Oh, it's OK, you'll get your food eventually."

Can you tell it's lunchtime?

by **Notch** Mon 26 Jan - 13:41

geoff998rugby wrote:
Chunky Norwich wrote:
Notch wrote: The only conspiracy is a crazy plan to sell more tickets

How will this sell more tickets?

Sell it to me.

Because Irish fans will go to the game even if 2 teams from elsewhere are playing.
Not true for the other countries in the Pro12

Because if they do get the worst case scenario final (I mean that in financial terms only) between Glasgow and Ospreys lots of Ulster, Leinster and Munster fans will already have bought tickets to make up for the lower levels of support that game will bring in.

by IanBru Mon 26 Jan - 13:41

LordDowlais wrote:
rodders wrote:I think given that Swansea, or Wales generally isn't a nice place

Yeah, cheers for that, and Ireland is the garden of eden now is it ?

Well said.

by LordDowlais Mon 26 Jan - 13:42

geoff998rugby wrote:I really dont see why Ireland should apologise for having the only 3 grounds with 18,000+ capacity which are not shared with soccer or the National stadium.
I dont see why Ireland should apologise for the fact the sponsor is Irish. A sponsor who is putting money into the hands of all 12 teams.
I also do not see why Ireland should apologise for having by far the biggest crowd and the only teams who take more than a handful of supporters to away game and as such make the package more attractive to TV.

Fact is we have achieved a measure of success.
The best response is to match that.
The alternative is to be permanent failures.

I'm actually more optimistic that Scotland will improve than Wales - never thought I'd say that

It's exactly how I thought, there is no problem, we can have what ever we want, as long as the Irish let us have it. Whistle

by The Great Aukster Mon 26 Jan - 13:43

LordDowlais wrote:
Kingshu wrote:So it was between Ravenhill, RDS, Thomond and the Liberity - Belfasts bid of the four must have been the best, not really a surprise its in Ireland as there was only one suitable Stadium outside of Ireland.

So as Swansea was the only other place, the odds were stacked very much in Ireland's favour. This is what the argument is about, it will always be stacked in Ireland's favour, because the rules that are made only favour the Irish. The fact is, every final has been played in Ireland, so even with this new way of doing it, it should have been more or less given to another country, not put up for auction, Ireland have had the final aver year so far, it was a very strong possibility that it could have gone to Glasgow or Swansea this time, but they found a way of keeping it in Ireland after all.

...er you do realise that the Kingspan stadium is in the UK ... just sayin Wink

by Chunky Norwich Mon 26 Jan - 13:44

LordDowlais wrote:

It's exactly how I thought, there is no problem, we can have what ever we want, as long as the Irish let us have it.

This is just another example of how awful the competition is though. They won't take it into consideration when they scratch their heads thinking "Why are crowds in Wales so low, why do they think the league is rubbish, " etc

This is why.

by LordDowlais Mon 26 Jan - 13:45

The Great Aukster wrote:
LordDowlais wrote:
Kingshu wrote:So it was between Ravenhill, RDS, Thomond and the Liberity - Belfasts bid of the four must have been the best, not really a surprise its in Ireland as there was only one suitable Stadium outside of Ireland.

So as Swansea was the only other place, the odds were stacked very much in Ireland's favour. This is what the argument is about, it will always be stacked in Ireland's favour, because the rules that are made only favour the Irish. The fact is, every final has been played in Ireland, so even with this new way of doing it, it should have been more or less given to another country, not put up for auction, Ireland have had the final aver year so far, it was a very strong possibility that it could have gone to Glasgow or Swansea this time, but they found a way of keeping it in Ireland after all.

...er you do realise that the Kingspan stadium is in the UK ... just sayin

The IRFU covers all Ireland, so when it comes to rugby it is ONE union.

by **Notch** Mon 26 Jan - 13:45

IanBru wrote:
Notch wrote:Swansea will have its chance to host a Final in the next five, guarantee it. If not Swansea then Cardiff.
Yes, but who is to say that Ospreys (or any welsh team) will even be there? There is nothing to guarantee that any team will ever be able to play a final in front of their home support.

If I'm at the head of the McDonalds queue and someone walks from behind me and makes his order, I would be justifiably cheesed off. I would feel that I deserved my food now, because I followed the rules as I had understood them (the Queueing Act 1923, Schedule 3, which relates to fast food queuing... ). It's no comfort when the rebellious burger fiend says "Oh, it's OK, you'll get your food eventually."

Can you tell it's lunchtime?

We didn't get a chance to host a Final in our home ground when we legitimately earned the right either. Only 5 out of 12 teams can host their own final under the old rules and we weren't among them until 2014. Thats just how it goes.

Everyone is acting like its such a massive trip to go from Wales to Northern Ireland. Its not free, but most people can budget for one or two away trips or test matches every season.

by geoff998rugby Mon 26 Jan - 13:46

LordDowlais wrote:
geoff998rugby wrote:I really dont see why Ireland should apologise for having the only 3 grounds with 18,000+ capacity which are not shared with soccer or the National stadium.
I dont see why Ireland should apologise for the fact the sponsor is Irish. A sponsor who is putting money into the hands of all 12 teams.
I also do not see why Ireland should apologise for having by far the biggest crowd and the only teams who take more than a handful of supporters to away game and as such make the package more attractive to TV.

Fact is we have achieved a measure of success.
The best response is to match that.
The alternative is to be permanent failures.

I'm actually more optimistic that Scotland will improve than Wales - never thought I'd say that

It's exactly how I thought, there is no problem, we can have what ever we want, as long as the Irish let us have it.

Nope but if you want to improve the status and health of Welsh rugby it needs to come from within not whinging about others.

by **Notch** Mon 26 Jan - 13:47

LordDowlais wrote:
Kingshu wrote:So it was between Ravenhill, RDS, Thomond and the Liberity - Belfasts bid of the four must have been the best, not really a surprise its in Ireland as there was only one suitable Stadium outside of Ireland.

So as Swansea was the only other place, the odds were stacked very much in Ireland's favour. This is what the argument is about, it will always be stacked in Ireland's favour, because the rules that are made only favour the Irish.

So go build some stadiums then Rolling Eyes

by Guest Mon 26 Jan - 13:48

LordDowlais wrote:
rodders wrote:I think given that Swansea, or Wales generally isn't a nice place

Yeah, cheers for that, and Ireland is the garden of eden now is it ?

Cannot believe you rose to that.

by geoff998rugby Mon 26 Jan - 13:48

Chunky Norwich wrote:
Weegie Wizard wrote:The problem is that it might be only Irish fans at the game anyway.

The whole point of announcing this early will be so they can sell the tickets early as well. No Glasgow or Ospreys fan in their right mind will shell out for a ticket and travel unless they know their team is involved.

Surely that means, if Ulster look like they will be in the semis, it will be full of Ulster fans with a few from Dublin irrespective of what teams are involved.

Ulster get an allocation as part of a package hosting the game anyway. Regardless if they even finish top 4.

Actually I think you will find the breakdown of ticket allocations has yet to be announced.
Under the old way it was something like 40% each and 20% corporate

by Chunky Norwich Mon 26 Jan - 13:49

geoff998rugby wrote:
Chunky Norwich wrote:
Weegie Wizard wrote:The problem is that it might be only Irish fans at the game anyway.

The whole point of announcing this early will be so they can sell the tickets early as well. No Glasgow or Ospreys fan in their right mind will shell out for a ticket and travel unless they know their team is involved.

Surely that means, if Ulster look like they will be in the semis, it will be full of Ulster fans with a few from Dublin irrespective of what teams are involved.

Ulster get an allocation as part of a package hosting the game anyway. Regardless if they even finish top 4.

Actually I think you will find the breakdown of ticket allocations has yet to be announced.
Under the old way it was something like 40% each and 20% corporate

I took that from an Irish rugby forum, so don't shoot the messenger.

by GLove39 Mon 26 Jan - 13:50

Notch wrote:
IanBru wrote:
Notch wrote:Swansea will have its chance to host a Final in the next five, guarantee it. If not Swansea then Cardiff.
Yes, but who is to say that Ospreys (or any welsh team) will even be there? There is nothing to guarantee that any team will ever be able to play a final in front of their home support.

If I'm at the head of the McDonalds queue and someone walks from behind me and makes his order, I would be justifiably cheesed off. I would feel that I deserved my food now, because I followed the rules as I had understood them (the Queueing Act 1923, Schedule 3, which relates to fast food queuing... ). It's no comfort when the rebellious burger fiend says "Oh, it's OK, you'll get your food eventually."

Can you tell it's lunchtime?

We didn't get a chance to host a Final in our home ground when we legitimately earned the right either. Only 5 out of 12 teams can host their own final under the old rules and we weren't among them until 2014. Thats just how it goes.

Everyone is acting like its such a massive trip to go from Wales to Northern Ireland. Its not free, but most people can budget for one or two away trips or test matches every season.

Not this year, those World Cup tickets didn't come cheap you know!

by **Notch** Mon 26 Jan - 13:52

GLove39 wrote:
Notch wrote:
IanBru wrote:
Notch wrote:Swansea will have its chance to host a Final in the next five, guarantee it. If not Swansea then Cardiff.
Yes, but who is to say that Ospreys (or any welsh team) will even be there? There is nothing to guarantee that any team will ever be able to play a final in front of their home support.

If I'm at the head of the McDonalds queue and someone walks from behind me and makes his order, I would be justifiably cheesed off. I would feel that I deserved my food now, because I followed the rules as I had understood them (the Queueing Act 1923, Schedule 3, which relates to fast food queuing... ). It's no comfort when the rebellious burger fiend says "Oh, it's OK, you'll get your food eventually."

Can you tell it's lunchtime?

We didn't get a chance to host a Final in our home ground when we legitimately earned the right either. Only 5 out of 12 teams can host their own final under the old rules and we weren't among them until 2014. Thats just how it goes.

Everyone is acting like its such a massive trip to go from Wales to Northern Ireland. Its not free, but most people can budget for one or two away trips or test matches every season.

Not this year, those World Cup tickets didn't come cheap you know!

Aye, I wouldn't be able to if I went for World Cup tickets either but everyone makes choices.

by GLove39 Mon 26 Jan - 13:52

rodders wrote:I think given that Swansea, or Wales generally isn't a nice place, nor is Glasgow and given that Edinburgh and the Italian teams aren't in the mix this was probably the most attractive and least expensive option for final for all fans.

can't understand this reaction at all.

Kingspan Stadium to Host Pro12 Final - Page 3 Cant-tell-if-troll-or-just-extremely-stupid

by **rodders** Mon 26 Jan - 13:53

LordDowlais wrote:
rodders wrote:I think given that Swansea, or Wales generally isn't a nice place

Yeah, cheers for that, and Ireland is the garden of eden now is it ?

Well there's plenty of snakes and the odd rotten apple.

Anyways don't they hate the Pro12 in Wales? If the final was in Chunkies front garden he'd close the curtains.

by LordDowlais Mon 26 Jan - 13:53

geoff998rugby wrote:Nope but if you want to improve the status and health of Welsh rugby it needs to come from within not whinging about others.

Holding the final of the Pro12 in Swansea, if Ospreys were in it, would have gone a long way to doing just that.

by GLove39 Mon 26 Jan - 13:55

Notch wrote:
GLove39 wrote:
Notch wrote:
IanBru wrote:
Notch wrote:Swansea will have its chance to host a Final in the next five, guarantee it. If not Swansea then Cardiff.
Yes, but who is to say that Ospreys (or any welsh team) will even be there? There is nothing to guarantee that any team will ever be able to play a final in front of their home support.

If I'm at the head of the McDonalds queue and someone walks from behind me and makes his order, I would be justifiably cheesed off. I would feel that I deserved my food now, because I followed the rules as I had understood them (the Queueing Act 1923, Schedule 3, which relates to fast food queuing... ). It's no comfort when the rebellious burger fiend says "Oh, it's OK, you'll get your food eventually."

Can you tell it's lunchtime?

We didn't get a chance to host a Final in our home ground when we legitimately earned the right either. Only 5 out of 12 teams can host their own final under the old rules and we weren't among them until 2014. Thats just how it goes.

Everyone is acting like its such a massive trip to go from Wales to Northern Ireland. Its not free, but most people can budget for one or two away trips or test matches every season.

Not this year, those World Cup tickets didn't come cheap you know!

Aye, I wouldn't be able to if I went for World Cup tickets either but everyone makes choices.

And that's my point, it's mid season, I've made my choices for this year, weird time to spring this on us.

by geoff998rugby Mon 26 Jan - 13:56

For the nth time the ground is not available that weekend

Swansea v Manchester City has it booked already

by Guest Mon 26 Jan - 13:57

Is Swansea v Man City an all weekend event then?

by **rodders** Mon 26 Jan - 13:58

Risca Rev wrote:Is Swansea v Man City an all weekend event then?

well I'd expect it will be over by half time.

drumroll

by LordDowlais Mon 26 Jan - 14:02

geoff998rugby wrote:For the nth time the ground is not available that weekend

Swansea v Manchester City has it booked already

There are other stadiums in Wales they could have used.

by **Notch** Mon 26 Jan - 14:03

LordDowlais wrote:
geoff998rugby wrote:For the nth time the ground is not available that weekend

Swansea v Manchester City has it booked already

There are other stadiums in Wales they could have used.

There is one other stadium in Wales, the Millennium Stadium.

by Kingshu Mon 26 Jan - 14:07

LordDowlais wrote:
Kingshu wrote:So it was between Ravenhill, RDS, Thomond and the Liberity - Belfasts bid of the four must have been the best, not really a surprise its in Ireland as there was only one suitable Stadium outside of Ireland.

So as Swansea was the only other place, the odds were stacked very much in Ireland's favour. This is what the argument is about, it will always be stacked in Ireland's favour, because the rules that are made only favour the Irish. The fact is, every final has been played in Ireland, so even with this new way of doing it, it should have been more or less given to another country, not put up for auction, Ireland have had the final aver year so far, it was a very strong possibility that it could have gone to Glasgow or Swansea this time, but they found a way of keeping it in Ireland after all.

EVERY previous final was held in Ireland because an Irish team earned it, how can you complain about that??

Why should Ireland be excluded for bidding for this one or it held against them because of their previous success??

That makes no sense, "sorry you've been too successful so we're counting it against you in the bidding"?

That would make no sense at all. Fairest way it to bid for it, and best bid wins.

Glasgow couldn't host it and couldn't have hosted it even if topped the table.

ALSO a little research semi-finals are 9th May, Final is 16th of May, 5 working days to plan arrange and sell out a stadium (min 18,000) just isn't doable, we should have seen this and guessed at the start of the year.

Also to be fair to the bidding process, would the Liberaty be sold out if Ospreys didn't make it? Say Muster V Glasgow? Bit risky as few years ago when they hosted a semi final against Munster they only attracted 10,026, would you be confident that that would sell out a final, with or without Ospreys in it?

I only think that Ravenhill or the RDS would sell out, without the local team making the final., so really it was between these two.

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