Glasgow Carry the Scottish Banner..

Glasgow Rugby will be the odd team in when the Celtic League semi-finals are played at Lansdowne Road, Dublin, this weekend (7/8 December).Andy Nicol’s team made sure it would not be a strictly Irish affair when they beat Connacht 34-29 in Galway, earning the Scots a Friday night last four showdown with Leinster.

But the second semi-final will be an all-Irish occasion with Munster taking on Ulster after the three remaining Welsh teams, Newport Rugby, Neath and Llanelli all fell at the quarter-final hurdle away to Irish opposition.

” Leinster are the form team in Europe at the moment”. said Scotland scrum half and Glasgow captain Nicol. ” They are unbeaten this season and the challenge doesn’t get much bigger than playing them in Dublin. Our target has been to spend three successive weekends in Ireland. We have managed to make it two so far but now it is the big one ahead of us if we are to make it three.”

If we get to the final of a major competition and the Celtic League is certainly that, it will give great credibility to Scottish rugby and will certainly be a huge boost for our professional game.
A lot of our team have not played at Lansdowne Road, so that will be a real occasion for them, and the chance to play on such a major stage doesn’t come along that often outside international rugby.”

” Our quarter-final against Connacht was just as we expected, an extremely tough match and playing Leinster in the semi-finals will be another step up again.”

For their part, Leinster and Glasgow Rugby will be meeting for only the fourth time in the professional era.
Glasgow won 29-17 at home in the Heineken Cup back in 1999, Leinster winning the return Heineken Cup Pool 1 match 44-17, and then their Celtic League group match this season 32-15 at Donnybrook.

The details for the Celtic League 2001 final have now been confirmed. It will be played at Lansdowne Road, Dublin, on Saturday, 15th December (kick-off 3.00 pm). The final will be televised live on BBC Grandstand and TG4..