Munster-Leinster rivalry healthier than ever - Graham Rowntree

As of Tuesday lunchtime, more than 75,000 tickets have been sold for Saturday's blockbuster BKT United Rugby Championship meeting of Leinster and Munster at Croke Park.

Leinster are hopeful they can tip towards an 82,300 sell-out by Saturday evening, but even if they don’t, the province are already guaranteed a record crowd for a URC game.

The 75,000 tickets shipped is already comfortably ahead of the previous record of 68,262, which the four Welsh regions shared at the Principality Stadum in a 'Judgement Day’ double-header in April 2016. It’s also nearly 20,000 ahead of any standalone game in the history of the league.

"It’s not bad for a club game, that, is it?" Munster coach Graham Rowntree remarked when he was told the latest ticket sales on Tuesday afternoon.

"Tingles in my spine when you say that, and we certainly spoke about it today, the history around this stadium and this fixture."

Even for a rivalry as old and well-worn as Munster and Leinster, it does feel like interest in the big Irish derby has grown in recent years.

The obvious reason for that is Munster’s URC title win in 2023, and particularly their gripping semi-final win against their neighbours in the semi-final that season.

The rivalry has also been fueled in recent years by transfers and contract negotiations at IRFU level, which has seen the national central contracts dominated by Leinster players, and resulted in Munster’s RG Snyman moving up the M7 to Leinster in the summer.

Related to that, a portion of Munster fans have been vocal around how some of their players have been overlooked for international selection, which has resulted in Jean Kleyn becoming non-Irish qualified after he switched back to the Springboks, and Antoine Frisch and Ben Healy