Thomond Park Up for World Cup Games

Clareman

As per Irish Times

Rugby: Ireland have launched a bid to take some of the 2013 Rugby League World Cup matches to Munster’s Thomond Park in Limerick.

The bid, which was the last of around 25 submitted to the Rugby Football League before last Friday’s deadline, is backed by Shannon Development and the Shannon Region Conference and Sports Bureau.

The revamped 25,600-capacity Thomond Park will stage its first rugby league fixture on November 4th when Ireland play France, and Rugby League Ireland (RLE) are hoping it will also host their World Cup group game against Australia.

RLE general manager Gordon Matthews said: “Ireland had a very successful 2008 World Cup in Australia and we are hoping to build on that success further in 2013, preferably with the help of some passionate home support.

“We are delighted that we are in a position to put forward an impressive case to the organising committee to play one or more of our group games in Limerick and specifically Thomond Park.

“The boost to rugby league in Ireland to potentially host the likes of Australia or Fiji in a venue such as Thomond Park would be enormous.”

The 2013 Rugby League World Cup will be hosted by England and Wales with the RFL expected to announce the venues in November.

Dozen Wicked Words

Would they get a decent crowd there? Would be fantastic to see a good crowd there, and really raise the profile, at least in the short term, for RL in Irleand.

big barrie

this sport is so far off the radar for sports writers in ireland ,( RLE ).

thomond2006

I'm not a fan of RL but I'd definitely go see Ireland vs Australia, to see the likes of Slater in the flesh.

The sport doesn't have a great profile in Ireland but a one off game like this would attract a good crowd IMO, for sheer curiosity if anything.

amacachi

To see that Aussie team I'd definitely head down to Limerick. Hopefully a few of the uninitiated would too to see what they're missing out on.

FalconXV

The match between Ireland and France at Thomond only got 300 people in despite the official attendance being 3,000.

Only GAA, Soccer and Rugby will generate good money for the Limerick economy

howbad71

FalconXV wrote: »

The match between Ireland and France at Thomond only got 300 people in despite the official attendance being 3,000.

Only GAA, Soccer and Rugby will generate good money for the Limerick economy

Don't know if u were at the game but there was way more then 300 at it I would have said it was closer to the 3000 mark myself

source

Monday, 28 November 2011 10:35

Thomond Park in Limerick will host a Rugby League World Cup group match in 2013, it was announced today.

The venues for the group stages and quarter-finals of the 14-team tournament were unveiled at a press conference at Salford's MediaCityUK

The revamped 25,600-capacity venue staged its first rugby league match ever at the beginning of November when a crowd of 3,000 saw Ireland beaten 16-34 by France despite Ireland win Joe Taylor's hat trick.

Rugby League Ireland (RLE) have previously said they hope Thomond Park will host Ireland's World Cup group game against Australia.

The successful bid was backed by Shannon Development and the Shannon Region Conference and Sports Bureau.

Karen Brosnahan of Shannon Region Conference and Sports Bureau, one of the Limerick bid organisers, said: "This is a fantastic day for Limerick, the Shannon Region, Thomond Park, Rugby League Ireland and the Irish sporting public. Today's announcement by the RFL is the ideal conclusion to an intensive 12 month campaign that was built on showcasing Limerick's superb sporting infrastructure and our superbly passionate sporting people."

2013 Rugby League World Cup Tournament Director Nigel Wood said: "I would like to congratulate the entire Limerick Bid Team who have been successful in their bid to host matches in what I am confident will be a World Cup that will help to enhance Rugby League's ever growing popularity in Ireland.

He added: "In putting together their bid over the last 12 months, Shannon Development and the Shannon Region Conference & Sports Bureau have demonstrated a level of commitment that gives us confidence that the 2013 Rugby League World Cup will exceed everyone's expectations.

"It has been a fantastic and inspiring bidding process and we have been extremely impressed with the quality, detail and diverse nature of the host bids received."

Limerick is one of 18 venues, with the other 17 spread across England, Wales and France.

Officials also announced six other venues which will host participating teams while venues for the opening ceremony, the semi-finals and the final, as well as the precise fixtures, will be confirmed early in the new year.

Organisers are using the new grounds which St Helens and Salford will move into for the start of the 2012 Super League season, as well as the planned Pow Beck Stadium in Whitehaven. Widnes' Halton Stadium misses out because its synthetic pitch has not been sanctioned by the Rugby League International Federation.

The quarter-finals will be held at Headingley, Wrexham, Warrington and Wigan.

Wood said: "We experienced massive interest in hosting matches from all across Europe and we have had to make some tough decisions.

"We are excited that the tournament will visit established world-class rugby league venues but will also visit some new locations, including Bristol and Whitehaven, where we see unique opportunities to grow the game and to deliver a lasting legacy for our sport."

A total of 34 bids were submitted to the RFL by the July deadline, and the following were successful:

:: Avignon - The Parc des Sports, which drew a crowd of 16,866 for France's recent international against England, will host a group match.
:: Bristol - The Memorial Ground will stage a group match, while Filton College will be used as a team training venue.
:: Halifax - The renovated Shay Stadium will host a group match.
:: Huddersfield - The Galpharm Stadium, a semi-final venue in 2000, will host a group match.
:: Hull - Both the KC Stadium and Craven Park will host group matches with the city also hosting two team base camps and team training venues.
:: Leeds - Headingley will host a group match and a quarter-final while two teams will set up base camps in the city along with a team training venue being utilised.
:: Limerick - Thomond Park, which hosted a first rugby league match last month, will be a venue for a group match.
:: Perpignan - The Stade Gilbert Brutus, home of Catalan Dragons and a regular Test venue, will host a group match.
:: Neath - The Gnoll, home of South Wales Scorpions, will host a group match.
:: Rochdale - Spotland Stadium, which is the home of Championship One club Hornets, will host a group match.
:: Salford - The Reds' new City of Salford Stadium at Barton will host a group match and the city will also host a team base camp.
:: St Helens - Saints' new #26million Langtree Park will host a group match.
:: Warrington - The enlarged Halliwell Jones Stadium will host a group match and quarter-final. The town will also host a team base camp and the University of Chester will be used as a team training venue.
:: Whitehaven - The planned Pow Beck Stadium, whose initial capacity of 3,200 can be expanded to 5,000 with the use of temporary stands, will host group matches, with the Cumbria Sports Academy used as a team training venue.
:: Wigan - The Leigh Sports Village will host a group match and will be used as a training venue while Wigan's DW Stadium will host a quarter-final.
:: Wrexham - The Racecourse Stadium, home of North Wales Crusaders, will host a group match and a quarter-final, while Wrexham will also host a team base camp and training venue.

Great news for Rugby League in Ireland, but not huge for Limerick. If Shannon Development et al, had secured a number of matches then it might be good. But given the profile of RL in Ireland I'd imagine that this one game will result in less attendance and less of a contribution to the local economy than a Pro12 game.

Cardinal Richelieu

Do many rugby league fans travel to the world cup? Any games I seen in the past in the UK were mainly expat fans working in the UK.

Dozen Wicked Words

Cardinal Richelieu wrote: »

Do many rugby league fans travel to the world cup? Any games I seen in the past in the UK were mainly expat fans working in the UK.

Last time the World Cup was in England it lost money, not sure many fans travel abroad for competitions, but we will see!

I think if they put an Australia game in Thomond Park there should be a decent crowd, its the aussies national game and plenty of expats here.

WakeyTyke

Looking forward to being able to watch elite RL (almost) on my door-step.

Will certainly make an effort to bring my RU friends along to open there eyes to the skill and excitement other code.;)

FalconXV

howbad71 wrote: »

Don't know if u were at the game but there was way more then 300 at it I would have said it was closer to the 3000 mark myself

only one grandstand was open as shown in the photos of the match there and sure was less than 3,000 in the east stand.

ormond lad

http://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/2012/0...ning-ceremony/
Ireland to play Fiji in rochdale, england in Huddersfield and Australia in Thomond

thomond2006

Wow, Australia in Thomond! That should draw a crowd.

fanofrl

I really really hope that the Ireland v Australia RLWC 2013 game draws a big crowd. Having said that i have grave concerns that it may not.
As a starting point, the stadium holds approx 26,000. So anything less than 16,000 will be sparce and anything less than about 8,000 will look pretty empty.
History tells us that crowds in Europe for RLWC games are small. Some example from 2000RLWC:- England v Russia at St.Hellens 5,700. England v Fiji at Leeds 10,000. England v Australia 33,000. And that's the HOME TEAM.
Now, if we take it that England has approx 10 times the population of ireland, pro-rata that would bring in 3,300 to the game. That would be IF we had RL as a professional sport with a history of 100 years like the English. We do not.
The figures of RL games in Ireland always seem to be bumped up, so that in itself makes it dificult to judge.
The largest recorded attendance was just between 3,000 and 4,000 in Northern ireland, more than the 3,100 recorded at Thomond.
The realistic figure for Thomond for the France game was probably around 1,500 to 2,000, with the majority of them being children (who probably got in for free).
Even if it is marketed at travelling Aussies in the hope they will attend, (as will resident ones both here and a few from the UK), will it amount to a significant number? So lets look at the last world cup in the UK, Australia v Fiji got 4,000. So pro rata that would come down to about 400???

How much can the rugby (munster) obsessed population of Limerick help. Don't forget, Limerick only has 90,000 people living there, roughly one tenth ofthe population of leeds for example (where RL is bigger than union)

All in all, as much as I really want to see it succesful, I just cannot see how.
The last game, all be it not a world cup or Australia, was marketed more than any other game here, along with support from various agencies, tourism and media in Limerick who were all partners in the project and we still hit only a couple of thousand. Can we really multiply that figure by 10 times ???? What budget would that marketing take and who has that sort of funds??? No one.
Let's hope for a good turn of fortunes and try and spread the word next year.

JonnyF

I'll be heading down and trying to bring a few yawn-ion lads with me

Tiernster7

Is Rugby league serious as a sport about developing nations outside of the 2 major leagues. The general lack of international fixtures tells me its not the priority. Judging by attendances at the last world cup and games involving Ireland unless things have improved considerably a crowd of 10,oo would be the height of my expectation

RichardoKhan

Jeesuz, could this thread be any quieter.....................Nearly two weeks away.

big barrie

no munster men, limerick for that matter even though limerick have won 5 out of the last 7 irish titles on the squad of 24 will i have no doubt dent the attendance , i would bet that there will be more aussies than irish at the match .

toomevara

big barrie wrote: »

no munster men, limerick for that matter even though limerick have won 5 out of the last 7 irish titles on the squad of 24 will i have no doubt dent the attendance , i would bet that there will be more aussies than irish at the match .

Nah, don't buy that, I reckon there'll be a decent Irish turn out for the game.

Snickers Man

JonnyF wrote: »

I'll be heading down and trying to bring a few yawn-ion lads with me

toomevara wrote: »

Nah, don't buy that, I reckon there'll be a decent Irish turn out for the game.

What? With Samoa playing the real Irish rugby team in Lansdowne Road on the same day? Good luck lads.

What genius dreamed that one up?

Dozen Wicked Words

Snickers Man wrote: »

What? With Samoa playing the real Irish rugby team in Lansdowne Road on the same day? Good luck lads.

What genius dreamed that one up?

The real Irish rugby team? Classy.

A good point about fixture clash, but completely overshadowed by the way you put it. ie, like a troll.

.

bennyl10

Only half the stadium is being used and tickets are not seeling well at all.. could end up being less than a limerick soccer match.. and that was my no means an impressive attendance..

P_1

I'm surprised that questions aren't being asked about the wisdom of scheduling the flagship League international on the same day as a Union international to be honest. Talk about hamstringing oneself

toomevara

What was it someone once said of the Arabs; "they never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity". Sometimes the powers that be in RL behave in precisely the same manner. By all accounts, RLWC 2013 is going to turn in a decent profit, and thankfully its been a success, but you'd have to say from an Irish perspective its been a bit of a disaster.

ednwireland

well i'm going, never been to thomond and last time i saw australia play was against warrington in 1996.

tickets bought just got to figure out where to park !

ciarriaithuaidh

ednwireland wrote: »

well i'm going, never been to thomond and last time i saw australia play was against warrington in 1996.

tickets bought just got to figure out where to park !

Jetland shopping centre or further up the Cratloe Road if you can manage..you'll be less than 10 mins away on foot and easy getaway out to the motorway.

Looking forward to this..Seeing some of the worlds best players more than cheering on Ireland unfortunately...RLWC has been terrible for Ireland and needs to be evaluated by the powers that be properly.

A2LUE42

Are there tickets for this available at the ground?

Dozen Wicked Words

A2LUE42 wrote: »

Are there tickets for this available at the ground?

Not 100% sure but I don't think you will have any problems at all paying on the door, crowd isn't going to be all that I don't think.

A2LUE42

Dozen Wicked Words wrote: »

Not 100% sure but I don't think you will have any problems at all paying on the door, crowd isn't going to be all that I don't think.

You weren't kidding.. Only East side open..and nowhere near full..

Dozen Wicked Words

A2LUE42 wrote: »

You weren't kidding.. Only East side open..and nowhere near full..

What's the attendance then, couple of thousand?

A2LUE42

Dozen Wicked Words wrote: »

What's the attendance then, couple of thousand?

Somewhere between 6 and 7. But hard to tell. Could be a little higher.

Dozen Wicked Words

A2LUE42 wrote: »

Somewhere between 6 and 7. But hard to tell. Could be a little higher.

5021 official attendance. Probably isn't too far off what they expected to get in. Particularly after the 2 Irish losses prior to tonight. 50 nil, could have been a lot worse.

RichardoKhan

Took two lads new to RL down to the game tonight. They reasonably enjoyed it. Even they thought the ref was a tad fussy first half.

ednwireland

RichardoKhan wrote: »

Took two lads new to RL down to the game tonight. They reasonably enjoyed it. Even they thought the ref was a tad fussy first half.

+1 just a shame ireland ended up in that group seeing as aus face USA in the quarters

enjoyed thomond last despite an 8 hour round trip, actually thought ire were ok but australia always had that extra gear and could see the gaps instantly.

agree with the ref being a bit over fussy (most of the people sitting round me were from yorkshire or lancashire !) at least the dewsbury rams jersey i wore was a talking point
just think having the game the same night as the start of the autumn internationals was the probably.

toomevara

ednwireland wrote: »

+1 just a shame ireland ended up in that group seeing as aus face USA in the quarters

As soon as I saw the group my heart sank…bloody bad, bad luck. Still could be worse, we could be Wales, who have no excuse. Anyhoo, I'll root out d'oul kilt for Headingley on Friday night….

Incidentally, Billy slater was arrested in Manchester at the weekend for fighting in a night club, just been released by the coppers…probably bored to tears by the easy meat on the field...

peteandjenn

Can someone tell me which side are the dugouts at Thomond Park? East or West stand. Cheers

source

peteandjenn wrote: »

Can someone tell me which side are the dugouts at Thomond Park? East or West stand. Cheers

East stand.