Leinster out to heal Champions Cup trauma; and is Aviva Stadium fatigue creeping in?

Leinster out to heal Champions Cup trauma; and is Aviva Stadium fatigue creeping in?

From The Counter Ruck by The Irish Times

May 1, 2026 · 29 min

About this episode

The episode discusses Leinster's upcoming Champions Cup semi-final and the potential fatigue from playing at Aviva Stadium.

During the week, it was announced that Leinster’s Champions Cup semi-final with Toulon had sold 30,000 tickets. Now, closer to kick-off, that figure is likely to rise, but it is notable that on the week of a big European game, there were still 20,000 seats available. Gerry Thornley joins Nathan Johns to chat through why this may be - is there an Aviva fatigue with Leinster calling the stadium home for two years now during the RDS development? We also preview the on-pitch action as Leinster face the French side while Ulster welcome Exeter in the Challenge Cup semi-final. Produced by John Casey. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Host: Nathan Johns

Guest: Gerry Thornley

Topics covered

  • Leinster
  • Champions Cup
  • Aviva Stadium
  • rugby
  • ticket sales
  • Ulster
  • Exeter

Keywords

  • Leinster
  • Champions Cup
  • Aviva Stadium
  • rugby
  • ticket sales
  • Gerry Thornley
  • Ulster
  • Exeter

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Leinster, Toulon, Ulster, Exeter, Aviva Stadium, RDS

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