No truth in rumours of heavy Garda and stewards presence denying Hill 16 entry to fans without a utility bill showing a Dublin address
Sea of Blue expected at Croke Park for Champions Cup semi-final
There is no truth in the rumours there will be a heavy Garda and stewards presence at the entrances to Hill 16, denying entry to those who cannot produce a utility bill with a Dublin address.
For Hill 16 hasn't seen much like this before as, imagine, people from Wicklow and Carlow, Westmeath and Longford - and don't forget Laois for over a century - will be able to cheer on their side, maybe see a win.
Sure people from Mayo can even take a peek, that's their Caelan Doris, a proud Mayo man, pround Breaffy under-age star, captaining the home side.
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Moreover, the Mayo collectives need not fear any shambolic 'curse' or unctious superstition - Aidan O'Shea's braves were semi-final winners at Croke Park as recently as 2020, a thrilling extra-time encounter with the Dubs ending 0-17 to 0-14.
Doris, the Breaffy part of him understanding just what it means to be there, the Blackrock College part of him wondering if he is living in a parallel universe, likes both sides of the coin.
“The Hill?" says Doris. "I’ve always stayed well away from it, I’ve been up the other end thankfully but I think the plan for the match is for it all to be Leinster which is going to be class.
"Standing is naturally conducive to a bit more energy and a bit more noise so hopefully that will be coming from them and with the long weekend as well, I think fans are going to be pretty keen so I’m looking forward to it.
"I have been in those stands plenty of times for some good days as well as plenty of bad ones, it is an iconic stadium for Irish culture. We feel very fortunate as a group to have a crack there tomorrow.
"We have Declan Darcy (Leinster's Performance Coach) in with us, who has been with us for the last couple of years - his message to us was the stadium magnifies your performance whether it is a good one or a bad one.
"Our plan, our prep over the last two weeks has been about getting our best performance and hopefully that will get the crowd involved, build an atmosphere and make it a special day for us - we are excited about the game."
Leinster's batch of semi-finals, working backwards from last season have been staged at The Aviva, The Aviva, La Rochelle's Marcel Deflandre, The Aviva, The Aviva, Lyon's Mahmut de Gerland, Marseille's Velodrome, Bordeaux's Chaban Delmas, The Aviva, Toulouse's Le Stadium and, er, Croke Park - so it will be both familiar and unfamiliar surroundings.
And while Cian Healy will span both Croke Park games Doris will be experiencing his first semi-final as captain, taking the place of the Club's co-captains James Ryan and Garry Ringrose, both of whom are injured.
"The captaincy role does get easier with time," says Doris. "Like with anything initially when you are thrown into a new role it’s a little bit daunting and more responsibility, a bit more pressure and nerves that come with that.
"With time and with reps each week it does get a little bit easier. I was chatting with Jack Conan pre captain’s run and he was asking me if I would be nervous tomorrow.
"There are more nerves as captain, you feel a little more responsibility to the team to get the performance right and a little bit more stake in it. There will be more nerves but I am excited as well."
So let the Railway End go barmy (too) because Hill 16 has never seen the likes of Leinster's army...
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