LARGE NUMBERS OF Leinster rugby fans face the prospect of disappointment as the last batch of tickets for the province’s Heineken Cup semi-final against Toulouse went on sale this morning.

An estimated 7,000 tickets for the April 30 clash went on sale this morning with quick-fingered fans pouncing the majority of those within the first hour. The additional tickets became available earlier this week when Toulouse informed the ERC that they would only require a tiny fraction of the 23,000-ticket allocation which they had been given by the governing body.

These tickets were subsequently passed on to Leinster with the province seeming to have little difficulty in shifting them. Over 40,000 blues fans are expected to pack out the Aviva Stadium for the semi-final, leaving the visiting support very much in the minority.

Since Monday, tickets to the fixture have become hot commodities among Leinster rugby fans. The initial allocation was sold on a preferential basis to season ticket holders with 4,000 tickets selling within the first minute and an estimated 14,000 going within just 40 minutes.

A number of tickets for the game have already appeared on Ebay with one reseller advertising two tickets in the lower North Stand for €299 – a whopping 375% mark-up.