MOORE CRAVING MORE: Page 43
ORGANISERS insist that they are unconcerned that this season’s Guinness PRO14 final will take place on the same day as the Scottish Cup decider in Glasgow.
The football showpiece will take place at the 51,866-capacity Hampden Park early in the afternoon of May 25, with the rugby final being held 5km away in the 60,832-capacity Celtic Park in the evening.
That will inevitably put pressure on hotel beds in the city, while it also raises security concerns for fans — particularly if Celtic and Rangers negotiate their way to contest the final.
Three years ago the PRO14 final clashed with the Edinburgh Marathon when it was held in Murrayfield and fans of Connacht and Leinster struggled to find accommodation.
However, PRO14 chief executive Martin Anayi is confident the city can handle the two fixtures.
“We’ve worked with the city and the police and they are pretty happy with the two events being in two separate parts of the city,” he said.
“I believe the kick-off for the Cup final will be earlier in the day, it’s to be confirmed when that will be, but our kick-off will be around 5.30pm/6pm and there will be time in between.
“We’re working closely with the police and the organising committee to make sure it goes off without a hitch.”
Despite moving the game to a new venue, the PRO14 are confident of attracting a big crowd to Celtic Park and they shifted 3,000 tickets in the first hour of yesterday’s presale.
They are determined to move the decider into new territories after the Aviva Stadium held the last two finals, with
SRU chief operations officer Dominic McKay suggesting Cape Town could soon play host to the game.
He also dismissed the notion of any acrimony between the Scottish and Irish unions in the wake of Dan McFarland’s move to Ulster from Gregor Townsend’s backroom team. “We’ve got a brilliant relationship with the IRFU,” he said. “Rugby is a competitive environment, players and coaches move. We have respect for the IRFU, we wish Dan every success. He was great for Scotland.” The PRO14 is launched in Glasgow today, with scrum-half John Cooney (left) the only Ulsterman honoured at last night’s awards dinner when he was named in the 2017-18 Dream Team.
Last season’s finalists, Leinster and Scarlets, both had the most players named with five each. Guinness PRO14 Dream Team 2017-18: Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh); Jordan Larmour (Leinster), Nick Grigg (Glasgow), Hadleigh Parkes (Scarlets), James Lowe (Leinster); Rhys Patchell (Scarlets), John Cooney (Ulster); Rob Evans (Scarlets), Torsten van Jaarsveld (Cheetahs), Andrew Porter; Scott Fardy (both Leinster), Tadhg Beirne; Aaron Shingler (both Scarlets), Callum Gibbins (captain, Glasgow Warriors), Jack Conan (Leinster). NORTHERN Ireland striker Liam Boyce now has a £1m-plus value on his head after a sensational start to the season for Burton Albion.
The former Cliftonville hero netted the only goal of the game for Burton at the weekend against Doncaster Rovers, taking his tally to three in as many games early in the League One campaign.
Boyce has kicked on from where he left off last season when he returned to the side after a serious knee injury and almost helped keep them in the Championship.
That form has led to interest from Championship sides in the 27-year-old, who moved to Burton from Ross County in a £500,000 deal last summer.
It is understood that Burton have already rejected bids, believing that Boyce is worth upwards of £1m. They see him as the spearhead for their promotion bid and are keen to keep the man who inspired Cliftonville to back-to-back titles in 2013 and 2014.
The transfer window may be closed in England for permanent deals but it remains open for loan moves until the end of the month, leaving Burton boss Nigel Clough wary about further interest in his star man.
Clough says that clubs could put together a loan package for Burton’s record signing that includes an option to buy in January.