Ireland Rugby - Home grounds

The traditional home of Irish rugby is Lansdowne Road in Dublin, where most of Ireland's home matches were held until the venue's demolition and replacement by Aviva Stadium. The original stadium, owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union, was built in 1872, and at the time of its closure in 2007 was the oldest international rugby venue still used for the sport. The stadium site continues to hold the distinction as the oldest still in use for international rugby. In 1878 the ground hosted its first rugby Test, with Ireland playing host to the English (the first representative rugby match had taken place prior to the Test, a game between Ulster and Leinster). Lansdowne Road had a capacity of just over 49,000 before it was demolished in summer 2007. The new 50,000 all-seater Aviva Stadium was opened on the Lansdowne Road site in May 2010. The final Irish Test prior to work commencing on the stadium was against the Pacific Islanders in late 2006. With Lansdowne Road unavailable for use, Ireland was without a suitable home ground for the subsequent Six Nations. The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) owned Croke Park (an 82,500 capacity stadium) was made available for Ireland's two home games against France and England in 2007. It was the first time ever that rugby was played at the venue. Croke Park remained in use for Ireland's Six Nations matches and other major Tests until the opening of Aviva Stadium.
The first Ireland match at Aviva Stadium will be against reigning World Cup champions South Africa on 6 November 2010. Because of the historic significance of this match, South Africa announced that they would wear their change strip to allow Ireland to wear their home green; normally, the home team change their colours in case of a clash.
Although Ireland has never totally hosted the Rugby World Cup, select games from both the 1991 and 1999 World Cups were played throughout venues in Ireland. Pool B in 1991 was mainly played in Ireland and Scotland, with two games at Lansdowne Road (involving Ireland) and one (Zimbabwe v Japan) played at Ravenhill, Belfast. A quarter-final and a semi-final were also hosted by Dublin. A similar system was used in 1999, though in addition to Lansdowne and Ravenhill, Thomond Park was also a venue. Lansdowne Road was also the host of a quarter-final in 1999. Ireland were set to host matches at Lansdowne Road for the 2007 World Cup, but due to scheduling conflicts with the reconstruction of the stadium, they decided they were not in a position to host any.