Planes, trains and automobiles get rugby fans to Edinburgh!

Connacht Rugby supporters are facing as tough an endurance test just to get to Saturday’s PRO 12 final in Edinburgh, as the players expect to meet on the field against Leinster in Murrayfield.

It is the biggest game in Connacht’s history, and all sorts of logistical and cost obstacles have been placed in the way of fans . . . and yet thousands from the West are expected to descend on the Scottish capital for the largest ever exodus of the ‘green army’ for an away match.

Direct flights to Edinburgh were snapped up pronto once Connacht confirmed its place in the All-Ireland final, with a heroic win against Glasgow at a sold-out Sportsground last Saturday.

And that forced supporters to scramble to seek alternatives, including up to 200 die-hards who will be making the twelve-hour each way round trip by bus.

GoBus, the Tuam-based bus company owned by rugby fan Jim Burke, has laid on a fleet of buses to transport a legion of fans to Scotland.

It is a twelve-hour journey each way – departing Galway city at 10pm on Friday, hitting Belfast, via Dublin, for a 3.30am ferry sailing, which is due into Cairnryan at about 6am, before another bus journey to Edinburgh where the estimated time of arrival is 10am, well in advance of the 5.30pm kick-off.

The return journey begins at five minutes to midnight Saturday and – twelve hours later, all going well – the bus will arrive back into the Fairgreen Station at noon on Sunday.

By midweek, three-and-a-half of their 57-seater buses were booked-up. “There has been unprecedented demand. We didn’t expect it at all. It’s definitely for the die-hard fans . . . it’s a good thing our buses are so comfortable and supporters can get a bit of sleep on the journey,” said Ms Howard.

Securing match tickets for the 67,000-seater stadium is not a problem – getting there, and securing accommodation, has proved a barrier.

The big match coincides with the Edinburgh Marathon, attracting 8,000 athletes and many more spectators; and that’s only the beginning of the ‘perfect storm’ that pushed flights and hotel prices through the roof.

See full coverage and preview in this week’s Connacht Tribune.