IT’S been confirmed: four Super League sides will be heading to Dublin in 2027.
Hull FC, St Helens, Warrington Wolves and Wigan Warriors will all be playing in the Irish capital in late April next year.
Warrington and Wigan will contest their Super League fixture on Saturday, April 24, with Hull FC and Saints doing battle on Sunday, April 25 at the Laya Arena.
As a result, the Wolves and Saints have both conceded a home game from the 2027 season to make it happen.
While it will be the first Super League game held in Ireland, Warrington and Wigan previously met in Dublin at Shelbourne Park in 1934, while Wigan returned to the city in 1995 to face Leeds in a Charity Shield fixture.
Neither Saints nor Hull have been to Dublin before in any rugby league capacity, making it a novel concept to supporters of both clubs.
With the Irish capital turning into one of the biggest attractions in Europe, it only seemed a matter of time before rugby league turned its attention west of the British Isles after sojourns to Las Vegas, Barcelona and Paris.
Warrington chief executive Karl Fitzpatrick expressed his belief that the 20,000-seater Laya Arena would be near capacity, with Wigan and the Wolves taking 10,000 fans between them to Las Vegas in 2024.
Hull, meanwhile, are regularly one of the best-supported sides in Super League despite their dismal form in recent years, whilst Saints hit five figures at the BrewDog Stadium consistently.
It is interesting to note that the main story came out on Wednesday, revealing that Wigan and Warrington would contest the ‘Battle of Dublin’.
Live at O’Connell’s Irish Bar in the heart of what was dubbed ‘Little Ireland’ in Manchester, Sky Sports presenter and Cork-born Irishman Brian Carney broadcast the news.
In front of Wigan and Warrington supporters and a heap of journalists, Warrington boss Sam Burgess and his Wigan counterpart Matt Peet expressed their delight at the news.
That announcement certainly overshadowed the one that came a day later when Hull FC and Saints made their separate declaration.
Why it wasn’t announced as a whole endeavour is a mystery, particularly when flight prices for that weekend soared following Wigan and Warrington’s announcement.
The idea of both matches being played on different days is also a confusing one, unless the theory is that the stadium will be filled on both the Saturday and Sunday.
Following the €52m redevelopment, the Laya Arena opened its doors on Wednesday, with the Gallagher Dublin Horse Show the first major event in the transformed venue.
So for rugby league to be able to secure a weekend in April is no mean feat – especially when Leinster Rugby have home games at the stadium on 17 April and 8 May next year.
Rugby league was first played in Ireland in 1934, but with the powerhouses of rugby union, football and Gaelic football taking precedence, it could well be a tough sell to natives.