Cardiff Chosen To Host 2006 Heineken Cup Final

Leinster, Munster and Ulster will be on the “Road to Cardiff” when next season’s Heineken Cup begins in October. The Welsh capital’s Millennium Stadium has been selected as the 2006 final venue.

The ERC (European Rugby Cup) announced today that the Cardiff venue – with a capacity of almost 75,000 – will host the Cup final clash on the weekend of May 20/21, 2006.

It will be the fourth time in 11 seasons that Wales have staged European rugby’s premier event. The Arms Park was the venue for the first ever Heineken Cup final back in January 1996, between Toulouse and Cardiff.

“We had some high quality bids to host the 2006 Heineken Cup final and the partnership approach adopted by Cardiff was exactly what we were looking for as we seek to continue the growth of our main event as one of Europe’s top sporting occasions,” said ERC chief executive Derek McGrath.

“ERC worked closely with the city of Cardiff to broaden the appeal of the final when it was last at the Millennium Stadium in 2002. We were rewarded with our biggest attendance for the game between Leicester Tigers and Munster and the 74,600 crowd that day still ranks as the largest gate at the Millennium Stadium.”

This Sunday’s 2004/05 Heineken Cup final pits two-time winners Toulouse against current French Championship leaders Stade Francais at Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium (kick-off 3.00pm).

Meanwhile, the Pool and Knock-Out stage dates have been set for the 2005/06 Heineken Cup campaign.

The competition will kick-off on the weekend of October 21/22/23, 2005, with the Pool stages following the same pattern as this season with three rounds before Christmas and three after.

Heineken Cup 2005/2006 Fixture Dates:

Pool Matches:
Weekend 1: October 21/22/23
Weekend 2: October 28/29/30
Weekend 3: December 9/10/11
Weekend 4: December 16/17/18
Weekend 5: January 13/14/15
Weekend 6: January 20/21/22

Knock-Out Phase:
Quarter-Finals: April 1/2
Semi-Finals: April 22/23
Final: May 20/21 (Millennium Stadium, Cardiff)

* Tickets for the 2006 Heineken Cup final are on sale as of today. You can purchase them via Ticketmaster UK (tel: 0044 (0)8705 582 582) / www.ticketmaster.co.uk. They are priced at Stg#45, #35, #25, #15 for adults and Stg#25, #20, #15, #10 for concessions. There is also a Family Four Pack available at Stg#99.