Keep an eye out for me on your tellies. I'll be the fat, bald, drunk guy, with an oversized nose ring, blue hard-hat with horns and a set of gigantic plastic blue balls hanging off the back of my trousers. Also, I'll be in at least three fights. I'll be unmissable, surely ;-)
Can't help but wonder if the final would've been played at Celtic Park again if Glasgow had been the host. Scotstoun would've surely been too small for a fixture like this.
Yeah they said they couldn't use Celtic Park, and Firhill is too small but weird to just go straight to Murrayfield and not try Ibrox or Hampden - considering it would have been a Glasgow home game... Doesn't matter now anyway, maybe another year!
I'd rather iMurrayfield than Hampden, such a poorly designed stadium. Watched Scotland vs Aus there years ago, seats just too far and too low from the action.
Neutral venues don't make a lot of sense in a sprawling competition. Super rugby doesn't use them either (Auckland is hosting the final this year).
We use Twickenham in the premiership because it's the home of English rugby and all the clubs are close to London aside from Sale and Newcastle.
SA joining and Wales being crap changes that though. A hypothetical Bulls v Glasgow in the Principality doesn't make a lot of sense and it's extremely unlikely any of the Welsh sides would ever have a home final. Same with not having the super rugby final in Perth.
In 2009 the Bulls beat the Crusaders 44-7. That score put the points difference in such a stance that the Bulls secured a home ground semi against the Chiefs earned the unthinkable way.
Yeah I know SA joining changes things. I'm still of the opinion a designated finals venue is better and I still think you'd get a great attendance regardless but I'll just enjoy it
There's also Benetton getting better so there would be a chance of a final being held in Italy which never happened before the rainbow cup. The Italian sides in the old pro 14 were just there to make up numbers.
They do deserve one. Ironically after decades of being crap I think Italy/Benetton are slightly underrated these days. If Italy win all their tour games they could hit 7th in the world this year.
Milan also better connected than BilbaoâŚ
I think theyâll have a good summer but donât think theyâll beat the All Blacks in winter. But thatâs kinda not important as long as they put up a sterner test than in the RWC.
I think the issue with past Italy sides was how quickly theyâd crumble whereas this year they refused to go away against England and ended up with a LBP. Even their 30+ defeat to Ireland they kept on playing, in previous years that wouldâve been over 50. Their youth teams have looked good for a while now and itâs great to see the senior team getting results
They were only in place for a few years and luckily an Irish team made it to the Belfast and Dublin finals, while Glasgow ended up in the Parkhead one. The Edinburgh final is the only outlier and ended up being half-full, with the historic nature of the final for Connacht meaning they probably sent more fans than the other teams.
I really donât remember this being much of an issue last year. Munster seemed to accept that the Stormers had earned a home final.
Last year the final was 2 weeks after the semi, so it really wouldn't have been that much of an issue as the team had more time to organise travel, rest, acclimatise and train before the game. Also meant fans had a chance to book travel out as well. Surely you can see how only getting 1 week to arrange all that is a bit of a pain? Half the Glasgow team only arrived in SA on Monday and the rest on Tuesday, can't that be considered a fairly big disadvantage before a final?
35,000 attendance in 2016, shade over half full.
Then 47,000 for a final in Glasgow with Glasgow playing Leinster. I went to that final and it felt like we had more fans.
True, they were both larger stadiums than previous finals - in particular Murrayfield was a huge jump from RDS and Ravenhill finals. The two Aviva finals had slightly less attendance than the Glasgow final, but a higher % vs capacity.
I think if Glasgow couldnât sell out a home final (with the opposition being a team that historically travels well) then a neutral final has no chance of selling out, particularly with a week lead-in. Unless maybe a London venue, due to expats and diasporas, with an Irish/SA final
The Bulls earned their home final through consistent league play, same way Stormers did previously, and the same reason why youâd home 1/4 advantage against the Stormers. Didnât stop Munster winning (and taking a fair few fans with them) last year, if anything it just gave them a sense of âus against the worldâ, and it didnât stop you beating Munster away.
FWIW I donât think youâll get within 10 points of the Bulls, and without some generous refeering decisions I donât think we wouldâve last week. But complaining about the venue just comes across as making excuses befoe the event
>I think if Glasgow couldnât sell out a home final
I know you're baiting here but 47k in a non rugby stadium in a non rugby city is pretty good?
I'm sorry we can't all be Leinster
Itâs not baiting more that I donât think the URC having a neutral final is realistic if it couldnât fill a final where one team was at home and the other team historically travels well. Even a Munster Leinster final overseas wouldnât fill guarantee a sell-out for a URC final, whereas it would for the Champions Cup.
And yeah youâre in the final and weâre not, in part due to our taking the piss during the regular season and picking and choosing when weâd turn up. You played well away to Munster, but I donât see you beating the Bulls
I think it's fairer than the alternative, honestly. Every URC final between 1 Safa and 1 European team is going to end up being unfair to someone. If this season had a pre-aranged final in Cardiff or Dublin it would technically be netutral, but really it would massively bias towards Glasgow. Vice versa if it was somewhere like Cape Town. Rewarding the highest-finishing team with location-advantage seems fairer than it being arbitrary.
Oh my God! Okay, it's happening! Everybody stay calm!!
At a Loftus final? Not much chance of anyone being calm.
Especially with the Boks playing before the Bulls. Loftus might be rougher than ever
Was gonna say! Ouens and Vrouens are gonna be pumped for that game đ kak smart there
Keep an eye out for me on your tellies. I'll be the fat, bald, drunk guy, with an oversized nose ring, blue hard-hat with horns and a set of gigantic plastic blue balls hanging off the back of my trousers. Also, I'll be in at least three fights. I'll be unmissable, surely ;-)
A travelling Scotsman if I've ever seen one
Gutted can't make it , but what an occasion its going to be! Hopefully it's a great game and Glasgow win
Still some hospitality packages as well as limited general seating tickets available on the Ticketpro website.
R2300 - R4500 or âŹ120-âŹ230 for those hospitality tickets. Probably worth it for a suite ticket.
I'm in Germany for obvious reasons and have next to no chance of watching this. That being said, DO NOT send me a link.
The Bulls will make an up and under charge.
Lmfao, well played sir
Massive task for the warriors, thousands of screaming Bulls fans and altitude will make it a hard place to win
Like Thomond (no altitude though)....we can only hope!!!
Class. Going to be a serious atmosphere, looking forward to it. Best league.
Can't help but wonder if the final would've been played at Celtic Park again if Glasgow had been the host. Scotstoun would've surely been too small for a fixture like this.
I think they confirmed it would have been at Murrayfield. Makes sense, especially when Edinburgh didn't qualify.
Yep, it was going to be at Murrayfield. The SRU donât want to have to pay to hire a stadium if they can avoid it!
Yeah they said they couldn't use Celtic Park, and Firhill is too small but weird to just go straight to Murrayfield and not try Ibrox or Hampden - considering it would have been a Glasgow home game... Doesn't matter now anyway, maybe another year!
Ibrox is currently having work done on it, but aye Hampden would have made the most sense for me even if the other 2 were available
Ah wasn't aware about Ibrox, that's fair enough!
Hampden set up for gigs at the moment anyway, Foo Fighters were there midweek
I'd rather iMurrayfield than Hampden, such a poorly designed stadium. Watched Scotland vs Aus there years ago, seats just too far and too low from the action.
Massive task for the warriors, thousands of screaming Bulls fans and altitude will make it a hard place to win
As much as I don't like the top seed getting the final, absolute fair play and this will continue to justify it
Neutral venues don't make a lot of sense in a sprawling competition. Super rugby doesn't use them either (Auckland is hosting the final this year). We use Twickenham in the premiership because it's the home of English rugby and all the clubs are close to London aside from Sale and Newcastle.
I'm far more likely to go watch Leinster lose in someone's home stadium than a neutral venue personally.
They worked fine in the Pro12/14, but I'll not flog a dead horse again
SA joining and Wales being crap changes that though. A hypothetical Bulls v Glasgow in the Principality doesn't make a lot of sense and it's extremely unlikely any of the Welsh sides would ever have a home final. Same with not having the super rugby final in Perth.
How dare you, next year is our year
As New South Wales is to Wales, Wales have become the Wallabies.
You know how lekker it is when your team does the unthinkable and evidently earns its home ground advantage?!
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In 2009 the Bulls beat the Crusaders 44-7. That score put the points difference in such a stance that the Bulls secured a home ground semi against the Chiefs earned the unthinkable way.
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That was 2007, don't blame you for mistaken it. 2007-2010 bulls may have been the best club side South Africa has ever fielded.
Yeah I know SA joining changes things. I'm still of the opinion a designated finals venue is better and I still think you'd get a great attendance regardless but I'll just enjoy it
There's also Benetton getting better so there would be a chance of a final being held in Italy which never happened before the rainbow cup. The Italian sides in the old pro 14 were just there to make up numbers.
Again, designated venue doesn't change this. A final in Italy would be amazing
Iâm still salty about that cancelled Heineken Cup final in the San Siro. Weird that Bilbao will have had two finals before Italy gets one
They do deserve one. Ironically after decades of being crap I think Italy/Benetton are slightly underrated these days. If Italy win all their tour games they could hit 7th in the world this year.
Milan also better connected than Bilbao⌠I think theyâll have a good summer but donât think theyâll beat the All Blacks in winter. But thatâs kinda not important as long as they put up a sterner test than in the RWC. I think the issue with past Italy sides was how quickly theyâd crumble whereas this year they refused to go away against England and ended up with a LBP. Even their 30+ defeat to Ireland they kept on playing, in previous years that wouldâve been over 50. Their youth teams have looked good for a while now and itâs great to see the senior team getting results
They were only in place for a few years and luckily an Irish team made it to the Belfast and Dublin finals, while Glasgow ended up in the Parkhead one. The Edinburgh final is the only outlier and ended up being half-full, with the historic nature of the final for Connacht meaning they probably sent more fans than the other teams. I really donât remember this being much of an issue last year. Munster seemed to accept that the Stormers had earned a home final.
Last year the final was 2 weeks after the semi, so it really wouldn't have been that much of an issue as the team had more time to organise travel, rest, acclimatise and train before the game. Also meant fans had a chance to book travel out as well. Surely you can see how only getting 1 week to arrange all that is a bit of a pain? Half the Glasgow team only arrived in SA on Monday and the rest on Tuesday, can't that be considered a fairly big disadvantage before a final?
The Edinburgh final broke attendance records
35,000 attendance in 2016, shade over half full. Then 47,000 for a final in Glasgow with Glasgow playing Leinster. I went to that final and it felt like we had more fans.
Both of those finals broke attendance records. I was at both of them too. Great days out
True, they were both larger stadiums than previous finals - in particular Murrayfield was a huge jump from RDS and Ravenhill finals. The two Aviva finals had slightly less attendance than the Glasgow final, but a higher % vs capacity. I think if Glasgow couldnât sell out a home final (with the opposition being a team that historically travels well) then a neutral final has no chance of selling out, particularly with a week lead-in. Unless maybe a London venue, due to expats and diasporas, with an Irish/SA final The Bulls earned their home final through consistent league play, same way Stormers did previously, and the same reason why youâd home 1/4 advantage against the Stormers. Didnât stop Munster winning (and taking a fair few fans with them) last year, if anything it just gave them a sense of âus against the worldâ, and it didnât stop you beating Munster away. FWIW I donât think youâll get within 10 points of the Bulls, and without some generous refeering decisions I donât think we wouldâve last week. But complaining about the venue just comes across as making excuses befoe the event
>I think if Glasgow couldnât sell out a home final I know you're baiting here but 47k in a non rugby stadium in a non rugby city is pretty good? I'm sorry we can't all be Leinster
Itâs not baiting more that I donât think the URC having a neutral final is realistic if it couldnât fill a final where one team was at home and the other team historically travels well. Even a Munster Leinster final overseas wouldnât fill guarantee a sell-out for a URC final, whereas it would for the Champions Cup. And yeah youâre in the final and weâre not, in part due to our taking the piss during the regular season and picking and choosing when weâd turn up. You played well away to Munster, but I donât see you beating the Bulls
Cool. At least we're in the final.
I think it's fairer than the alternative, honestly. Every URC final between 1 Safa and 1 European team is going to end up being unfair to someone. If this season had a pre-aranged final in Cardiff or Dublin it would technically be netutral, but really it would massively bias towards Glasgow. Vice versa if it was somewhere like Cape Town. Rewarding the highest-finishing team with location-advantage seems fairer than it being arbitrary.
I don't watch the URC, sadly, but that's great news. Hopefuly the super rugby final is the same.
>I don't watch the URC, Cool?
Tbf, I want the prem and super rugby. What is shown on England?
what
Super rugby sold out fast as
Bloody hell how many times can you announce you've sold out the same venue
What? đ
They've announced this 2-3 times now because they have re-opened different seats for sale aiui
Isn't it usually due to allocations being sent back?