Although Clermont only sold 4,500 tickets officially, an invasion over 10,000 fans of les jaunards is anticipated over the weekend for the club’s first appearance in the Heineken Cup final at the Aviva Stadium tomorrow. Many of their supporters snapped up tickets after Clermont completed a double over Leinster in the pool stages last December at the Aviva.

In addition to 21 planes which are leaving from Montferrand airport, two 747s are leaving from Paris and one from Lyon, while thousands more are reputedly travelling on Ryanair flights from Marseilles and elsewhere, as well as by boat via Cherbourg. By contrast, Toulon are not expected to greatly swell their official ticket sales of 2,000 for their first Heineken Cup final.