Ireland fans get greenlight for summer Tests
Ireland rugby fans have been given the green light to return to the Aviva Stadium for the first time in 17 months for the summer Tests against Japan and the United States.
Capacity for the Japan game on Saturday, July 3 will be limited to 3,000 supporters, with 6,000 people permitted to attend the USA’s visit to Dublin a week later.
The pilot events will be the first time fans have been at the 51,700-seater stadium since February 8, 2020, when Andy Farrell’s men beat Wales 24-14 in the Guinness Six Nations.
Irish Rugby Football Union chief executive Philip Browne said in a statement: “These games are initial positive steps on the journey back to hopefully full stadia across the island.
“The numbers are small, but I am sure spectators will make themselves heard in cheering on the team.
“We hope that this programme, if successful, will put us all in a strong position to welcome back larger numbers of fans to the Aviva Stadium in the autumn when we will have three international rugby fixtures, including games against New Zealand and Argentina.”
The IRFU will allocate 300 tickets for the Japan game to frontline workers in recognition of their contribution during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
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It could be Doris' day!
Go to commentsThe whole thing has blown up because Eben’s words have clearly struck a nerve in Ireland. Otherwise they would just laugh it off. I think some former Irish players, commentators and some Irish fans know deep down this Ireland team started to believe its own press and that a certain amount of arrogance had started to creep in during the World Cup. The topic was actually brought up by Irish pundits on Off the Ball recently. It’s fine to be arrogant if you can back it up. Ireland didn’t.
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