USAP could play against Stade Toulousain on April 2nd next year at the Camp Nou in Barcelona. Being that Perpignan and Barcelona are not far from each other and that both clubs are 100% Catalan the ties between the two clubs (one in Rugby, one in soccer) are getting stronger and stronger: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/ru...ignan-consider-rugby-match-famous-ground.html The big question is to know if the game will be a sellout. At a capacity of 98000 spectators the Camp Nou is the biggest soccer stadium in Europe.
Sounds like a great time! How close is Spain to getting their own professional rugby competition? I read some where that Spain and Portugal were going to start a joint professional league, but don't known any more.
I'm not sure if there'll be a league in Spain either. In any case, most of the interest in Catalonia comes from strong following rugby has accross the border from Barcelona, in Perpignan. The French USAP fans call themselves "Catalans", just as the soccer Barcelona fans.
Don't the Basque sides do something similar? I remember Les Catalans played Warrington at the Olympic stadium last year. It's a good trend.
biarritz have played at Real Sociedad's ground several times. I'm not sure why they don't play at San Mames, might be the size of the pitch.
This is great. If Spain can take a page out of Italy's book and make serious progress on the club and country front its a big win for rugby.
Yes, and so does l'Aviron Bayonnais (Bayonne). They might prefer to play at Real Sociedad's stadium because it's closer to the French border than Bilbao. San Sebastian is only a forty-minute ride from Bayonne.
That is probably the logical reason, though I think I have heard something about the pitch size at San Mames, and it would make sense for a club like Biarritz who consciously try to represent the Basque Country to play at Athletic.
If Spain can turn professional and get a couple of teams into the H - Cup that would make for some great rivalries with French clubs!
Perpignan confirm Barcelona switch http://www.espnscrum.com/heineken-cup-2010-11/rugby/story/133169.html Perpignan confirm Barcelona switch January 26, 2011 The Olympic Stadium will host Perpignan v Toulon The Catalan club, who earlier this year angled for a marquee tie at FC Barcelona's iconic Nou Camp stadium, will take on their Top 14 rivals on April 9 before Biarritz's tie with reigning champions Toulouse is staged at San Sebastian's Estadio Anoeta to round off the following day's action. Sandwiched between the two Spanish ties will be Leinster's Saturday evening clash with Leicester at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, a rematch of the 2009 final. The Irish province have already staged two games at the revamped Lansdowne Road this season, beating Munster and Clermont Auvergne. Northampton will kick off Sunday's action with their home clash against Magners League side Ulster, which has been switched from their Franklin's Gardens home to the nearby stadium:mk in Milton Keynes. Meanwhile, Munster will draw a line under the Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-finals with their clash against Brive at the Stade Amedee-Domenech on April 9. The last eight action will get underway on Thursday night, when La Rochelle face Clermont Auvergne, while Harlequins face Wasps and Stade Francais take on Montpellier in Friday night clashes.