Donnybrook Stadium has recently been dragged into the high-octane modern world of professional club rugby with a brand spanking new stand. The exterior of this futuristic concrete structure is draped with ginormous action portraits of Leinster idols like Leo Cullen or Brian 'BOD' O'Driscoll.
Irish rugby has been so ludicrously successful in recent times that burgeoning crowds were causing the old venue to almost burst at the seams when a popular fixture came to town.
As they cannot get hold of the adjacent properties, Stand #2 is nowhere on the horizon, and seeing as the really, really big dates like Leinster vs. Munster are held in Croke Park, and shortly, at the new Lansdowne Road, there may actually be no need for one
The much harangued and ridiculed Senior and Junior School's Rugby Cup matches are held in Donnybrook each year too. These events are like clinical research into the herd-mentality and see hundreds of uniformed young males descend into an uproarious fervour of animalistic school pride. Definitely worth a look-see, as I don't think you'll find school spirit as powerful as this anywhere else this side of the Atlantic. read more