Sunday's Energia All-Ireland League finals day will be a little bit different.
For the first time ever, the IRFU have paired the men's and women's finals together for a double-header at Lansdowne Road, as they look to build on what was a record crowd for an Aviva men's final last year, when 8,642 people watched Terenure College defeat Clontarf.
Terenure will be looking to go back-to-back in the men's final at 4pm this Sunday, but before that Railway Union and UL Bohs will contest the women's final, kicking off at 1.45pm.
Neither Railway nor Bohs are strangers to the big days; Railway are in their fourth final in a row, and looking for their third title in that time. Bohs, meanwhile, are on the hunt for a record 14th title, with the Limerick side back in the decider for the first time since 2019.
Sunday's final is a repeat of that 2019 showpiece, when Railway beat Bohs 13-8 to become champions for the very first time.
Captain Niamh Byrne and her team have become used to prepping for finals, but she admits the prospect of playing at the Aviva has take all of them out of their comfort zones.
"It's massive, we have all been out doing some photos, and it’s really exciting," she said earlier this week at a the photocall for this weekend's games.
"Even being here today, it’s building, it’s getting better each year and I think it will be really exciting to go out and play on the Aviva pitch on Sunday for the first time."
Byrne, who won her sole Ireland cap against England in the 2022 Six Nations, says playing at the Aviva isn't a dream come true, partly because it wasn't something she thought was on her radar.
"To be completely honest, up until this, I never really thought we would have a women's AIL final here but it’s great," she added.
"I think we are going to be the third women's game ever at the Aviva Stadium, so there was great excitement when it was first announced as a double header.
"I was actually here for the Leinster match two weekends ago. I went to the [La Rochelle] match with the Railway girls, it's exciting. We sat there thinking 'Jesus, we are the next rugby team to be on this pitch.’ It’s all very surreal.
"This is hopefully going to be the most watched women's AIL final and you do want to make sure that it’s a cracker of a game, and it entices younger girls to want to play.
"It's definitely in the back of people’s minds, but I think we come into it with all eyes on Bohs. It will be a great day to be in the Aviva but we will be looking at beating our opponents."
Getting back to the final has been a big mark for the two-time champions this season, after the departure of their popular coach John Cronin following last season's final defeat to Blackrock.
Stephen Costelloe has stepped in as head coach this season, and it's been an impressive debut season, with Railway getting to this Sunday's final off the back of a 10-game winning run in the league since November.
"At the beginning of every season, we always set out our goals for the year, and obviously with our success in the past seasons, we still kept our goal as reaching the final and hopefully lifting the cup, regardless of the changes.
"I think it has been good. Stephen has changed things up slightly but it has been exciting and it's good to see that we still have our standards.
"I think he has kept the bones of our shape and how we like to play but brought in a bit of creativity and I guess a different viewpoint on how he wants things done. But equally I think we have kept our standards high," Byrne added.
This Sunday's final will be the fourth meeting of the sides this season, with Bohs coming out on top in their first league meeting last November, before defeating the Dublin side in the final of the All-Ireland Cup in January.
More recently, Railway were 43-22 winners at home against UL, when they met in the penultimate round of the regular season.
But Byrne isn't putting much stock into that 21-point win.
"I am a very sceptical person, I want to say no to that [being influential], to be honest because I think every time we play Bohs, anything can happen, and any team can win.
"I think both sides will come out well-prepared and it will come down to who turns up on Sunday.
"We have been in finals before, we obviously didn't get the result we wanted last year, but to do it in the Aviva for the first time would be magic," she added.
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.
