CONNACHT’S UNITED RUGBY Championship round five clash against Ulster will now take place at the Aviva Stadium.

Connacht have agreed to give up home advantage for the game on 23 October, which is set to take place one day after crowd restrictions will be lifted by the government. 

With the capacity of Connacht’s Sportsgrounds at just over 8,000, the province are hoping to accommodate as many supporters as possible in what will be one of the first professional events in Ireland after the relaxing of restrictions. 

“I was asked what I thought about it, and straight away I thought about the positives, as I tend to, but I thought I’d love to give our players a platform to play in front of maybe 20,000 or 30,000 people,” said Connacht head coach Andy Friend. 

“So that was the first thing that sprung in my mind, and I actually think Interpro games, as I’ve now learned, they are massive here.

“Given we’ve had 18 months with no crowd, we could get a good crowd there. We have a lot of Connacht supporters in Leinster, a great opportunity for them just to head down the road now and get a ticket at the Aviva.

“It’s done in consultation with our key supporter group, with myself as the coach and therefore the team, and all thumbs were up for it. I see it as a brilliant opportunity to head up to the Aviva.”

Existing season tickets holders are guaranteed entry to the game, while the rest of the tickets will go on general sale on Monday, 27 September at 9am.

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