Aviva Stadium
Rugby
URC
Dublin
Score:
47
/ 60
Overview
At golden hour on a spring evening in Dublin, there aren’t many better places to be than watching Leinster at the Aviva in their final game of the 24/25 regular season. There’s a spacious, airy feel to this stadium, its colossal glass exterior allowing natural light to cascade onto the field of play. One can make out the Dublin skyline in the distance through the transparent wall behind the oddly diminutive north stand. It is certainly the most beautiful of the four home nations rugby stadiums and it boasts catering and facilities to match the other three. Without doubt worth a visit.
Score Summaries
Atmosphere & Experience
This being a club game, it does not draw anything close to a capacity crowd. Only the lower tier of the stadium is open, leaving vast swathes of empty seats which echoes weakly with crowd noise that does not feel commensurate with a venue of this size. That said, Leinster do an admirable job of geeing up the 15,000 or so supporters present. Their mascot, bursting with energy in a full lion costume, runs from stand to stand banging a drum and eliciting chants from fans throughout the game. Nonetheless, it isn’t quite enough to overcome the fact that the stadium is at less than a third of its capacity.
Score: 6.5
Seats
I sat in row M of section 122 on the west side of the ground. €50, almost €56 once booking fees are taken into account, is fairly steep for a lower tier seat on the 5-metre line for a club game. That said, the view is excellent. With the limited gap between the lower tier and the pitch, one feels close to the action and there are no obstructions to prevent a view of the entire field of play. Seats in this section were standard as far as major stadiums go. Fairly comfortable, but reasonably cramped.
Score: 7
Catering
Stop what you’re doing, get to the stadium, and buy a hash brown stick. Now. Also, this is Ireland, so, unlike everywhere else in the world, Guinness is still poured properly in stadiums.
Score: 8.5
Facilities
Clean, abundant, and you don’t have to trek too far from your seat.
Score: 9
Getting There
Walkable in about 45 minutes from O’Connell Bridge, or a 12-minute journey on the Dart from Tara Street. Pretty straightforward on a day when the stadium is far from full. This may be a consequence of my own stupidity, but getting to the correct gate upon arrival took quite a long time and involved questionable directions from multiple stewards. I’d recommend making sure you know where you’re going before you arrive.
Score: 8
Getting Away
Easy enough to get on the Dart after such a sparsely attended game, if a little cramped. Walkable if there’s a queue for the Dart and there are plenty of bars within spitting distance of the stadium that you can visit to break up the hike back to the city.
Score: 8