MUNSTER HAVE SOLD 13,500 tickets for Saturday’s Guinness Pro12 semi-final against the Ospreys at Thomond Park.
A rush for tickets when they became available following last weekend’s confirmation of the play-offs had boosted confidence for a 20,000+ crowd at the Limerick venue this weekend, but the demand has since eased off.
Munster anticipate that interest levels will rise again closer to the game, including walk-ups on the day, and eventually result in an attendance of more than 15,000 for the visit of the Welsh region.
That would greatly exceed the average of close to 8,500 across all games in the Pro12 this season, but there would be some disappointment in seeing swathes of empty seats in the 26,000-capacity Thomond Park on Saturday, particularly with such an excellent game in store.
Given that no away team has ever won a semi-final, the odds would at first appear to be stocked in Munster’s favours for this tie against Steve Tandy’s Ospreys. Indeed, the Welsh side’s head coach admits the the Limerick factor is relevant.
It’s an advantage to have that home semi-final and you look at their pack, it starts to grow there [in Limerick] and they can strangle teams in fairness to them, especially if you’re giving them cheap field position, which we’ll need to stay away from,” said Tandy.
“I think they’re a pretty well-rounded team. Anthony Foley’s done a really good job there, there’s a good balance to their tight play as well as their width, and it’s definitely a well-coached team.”
And yet, the Ospreys have already won in Thomond Park this season. A 19-14 victory at the famous venue back in round four contributed to a gloomy first few months for Foley in charge of his home province.
The Ospreys backed up that Rhys Webb-inspired result by beating Munster 26-12 at Liberty Stadium in March. They will travel with justified confidence this weekend.
“I don’t think we’ll have a fear,” said Tandy. “There’s a respect around what the Irish teams do, around Munster and Leinster. We want to be competing with those guys because they’re always at the top of the league, we want to be there challenging.
It’s something that we pride ourselves on: going away and putting positive performances in. We’ve got a young group who’ve come through this season and had some lows and plenty of highs.
“The training weeks are getting better, they’re gaining more experience, even in Galway against Connacht last weekend. We’ll need to be at our best, but the boys are very excited about it.”
