Northampton Saints centre Fraser Dingwall believes his side won't be intimidated by the size of the crowd when they take on Leinster at Croke Park on Saturday.
The Premiership side take on the four-time champions in the semi-final of the Investec Champions Cup on Saturday.
In normal circumstances this game would be played at the Aviva Stadium, but Lansdowne Road is currently out of commission in the lead-up to the Europa League final later this month.
Instead, Leinster will move up to north Dublin to Croke Park, for what will be the first game of rugby at the home of the GAA since the 2010 Six Nations championship.
Given the novel location, Leinster's fans snapped up tickets instantly, with the game selling out in a matter of hours, with 82,300 set to descend on Jones' Road on Saturday evening.
Northampton travel to Dublin off the back of a 41-32 defeat to Harlequins in the Premiership last weekend, which was staged at Twickenham, with just under 60,000 people in attendance.
And Saints centre Dingwall believes it will be good prep for dealing with another large crowd this weekend in Dublin.
"It's something we discussed yesterday. It has just added to the excitement," he said about the setting for this weekend's semi-final.
"The boys are very much aware of the massive history that the ground holds, so for us to be given the opportunity to play there is something we're really excited by and we're honoured by forming part of the history of that stadium.
"I have to see it as something the squad gets energized by. These big occasion don't come very often and there are limited people in the squad that have played in international stadiums, but also in places where the majority would be a home crowd.
"So it’s an incredibly exciting opportunity and I have to say we addressed Croke Park and all its history and that’s something we are really honoured to be given, the opportunity to play there."
An overwhelming majority of the 82,300 supporters are expected to be wearing blue rather than the Saints' green this Saturday, but Dingwall says while Croke Park will be a new venue for him and his side, it will equally be a new experience for Leinster, with Cian Healy being the only player in the squad to have played rugby there.
"We'll visit it the day before the game, and we'll have a walk around just so the boys can see it. It’ll be very much us just turning up and seeing it.
"The only thing we can take is that it’s only the second club games that’s played there.
"We haven’t played there and neither have a lot of the Leinster boys so it’s new for a lot of people, which makes it very exciting," he added.
The Premiership leaders knocked out Munster in the Round of 16 at home, while they also won away to the Irish province, defeating the URC champions 26-23 at Thomond Park in the final round of pool games.
That win in Limerick was all the more impressive given how they came from 20-10 down with 14 players, following a red card to hooker Curtis Langdon.
"We've taken a lot from that game [against Munster]. I think it's actually fortunate enough for us that it hasn't been the only occasion this year where we've had games like that, where we've been down and out as such, and wrestled it back to come away with a victory.
"What that one in particular showed us is that when you're away and things aren't going your way, it takes a lot of small movements and little bits done well to just get that bit of momentum and it can all change.
"Away from home, it's never smooth sailing but you've just got to fight to find a way. We've had exposure to it this year and the squad are in a really good place around traveling away to different grounds, crowds being against you, refs not necessarily giving you too many ins, the scoreline being against you, and just fighting and competing in every little aspect of the game to find a way to come away with a victory," he added.
While Leinster's frontline players have had the last two weekends off, with a second-string group having gone to South Africa for their URC games, the majority of Northampton's first choice stars have been down at the coalface against Leicester and Quins in recent weeks.
But Dingwall isn't concerning himself with Leinster's continuity, or lack thereof.
I guess you could potentially see it as an advantage, if they haven't had the continuity, but I can’t imagine it is the case.
"There’s a lot of top players in that group and we can’t really think too much about how they are going to be and how they are going to turn up. I don’t think that’s how these big games are going to be won.
"It’s not going to be won by the other team losing it, as such. I think we’ve got to go out with the mentality we’re going to win this game and get after it and wrestle for the victory rather than hoping they are going to roll over for us.
"My memories of playing them are that they're obviously a very strong team and that when they have a lot of things going their way, they can get a real roll on and they're very hard to stop.
"This European competition is all about challenging yourself against the top players and top teams, and Leinster are definitely one and have been for a very long time, so it's an exciting opportunity."
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
