Stage for Final has lost some sparkle

THE Pro12 Final will be played in Scotland for the first time this weekend but won’t be as big an occasion as everybody had hoped for.

SRU chief executive Mark Dodson should be praised for bringing the event here in the first place. Through no fault of his own, however, his bold move has not gone to plan.

When he convinced league organisers to stage the showpiece event at Murrayfield, he was hoping either defending champions Glasgow Warriors or Edinburgh would be involved.

The dream ticket would have been to have both going head-tohead, which would have meant a real chance of the 67,144 capacity stadium being filled.

As early as February, sadly, it was clear Edinburgh had no chance of making the play-offs. Glasgow at least kept home hopes alive before losing their semi-final to Connacht last weekend.

The all-Irish affair between Galway-based Connacht and Dublin outfit Leinster on Saturday evening will still be a decent occasion but not nearly as exciting as it might have been.

The SRU announced that 30,000 tickets — a record for a Pro12 Final — had been sold even before the finalists were known.

Which begs the question: how many of those were snapped up by Glasgow fans who didn’t expect their team to lose in the last four?

If Gregor Townsend’s team had made it, we would have easily been talking about a 50,000 crowd.

There will still be a crowd of around 35,000-40,000 but even that will leave huge atmosphere-killing gaps. There has also been lots of moaning and groaning from Connacht and Leinster fans because of the soaring costs of flights and lack of accommodation to be found in Edinburgh.

The Final clashes with 5k and 10k running events in Holyrood Park and the Edinburgh marathon on Sunday, which will attract more than 25,000 visitors — many of whom booked hotels months ago.

Some token lessons should be learned for next year.

Rather than announce the Final venue at the start of the season, why not ask the Irish, Welsh, Scottish and Italian Rugby Unions to all nominate a ground to play the match?

If, for argument’s sake, two Irish teams again make the Final, then it could be played at the venue on the Emerald Isle.

If teams from different countries make it, then the one that finishes higher in the league at the end of the regulation season would get ‘home’ advantage.

It would boost crowd numbers and cut expensive travelling costs for at least one set of supporters.