Fraser Dingwall: Saints won't be overawed at Croke Park

Northampton Saints centre Fraser Dingwall believes his side won't be intimidated by the size of the crowd when they take on Leinster at Croke Park on Saturday.

The Premiership side take on the four-time champions in the semi-final of the Investec Champions Cup on Saturday.

In normal circumstances this game would be played at the Aviva Stadium, but Lansdowne Road is currently out of commission in the lead-up to the Europa League final later this month.

Instead, Leinster will move up to north Dublin to Croke Park, for what will be the first game of rugby at the home of the GAA since the 2010 Six Nations championship.

Given the novel location, Leinster's fans snapped up tickets instantly, with the game selling out in a matter of hours, with 82,300 set to descend on Jones' Road on Saturday evening.

Northampton travel to Dublin off the back of a 41-32 defeat to Harlequins in the Premiership last weekend, which was staged at Twickenham, with just under 60,000 people in attendance.

And Saints centre Dingwall believes it will be good prep for dealing with another large crowd this weekend in Dublin.

"It's something we discussed yesterday. It has just added to the excitement," he said about the setting for this weekend's semi-final.

"The boys are very much aware of the massive history that the ground holds, so for us to be given the opportunity to play there is something we're really excited by and we're honoured by forming part of the history of that stadium.

"I have to see it as something the squad gets energized by. These big occasion don't come very often and there are limited people in the squad that have played in international stadiums, but also in places where the majority would be a home crowd.

"So it’s an incredibly exciting