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It was with some dismay that we noted the alarming number of empty seats in this weekend's Super Rugby play-offs in New Zealand.
Why are stadiums in New Zealand never anywhere near full while South Africa's massive stadiums are routinely packed to the rafters? Even in Australia, where Rugby Union is supposedly struggling to compete with other football codes, attendance records are being broken - as illustrated by the 48,301 fans, who packed Suncorp Stadium for the Reds' clash with the Crusaders. Back in the Republic, the Stormers are averaging over 37,000 spectators this season.
Surely I'm missing something here...isn't the Land of the Long White Cloud supposed to be rugby mad? You'd be hard-pressed to find a Kiwi who wouldn't tell you that rugby is central the national psyche and the results of the New Zealand teams certainly suggest that the standard of game is as high as ever.
Why then did only 16,100 punters turn up at Eden Park on Friday for the Blues' Super Rugby play-off with the Waratahs in a ground that can hold 50,000?
Why was Trafalgar Park - with a capacity of just 18,000 - far from full for the Crusaders' clash with Sharks? We're talking about the most successfully, most exciting team in Super Rugby history playing a side packed with Springboks in a knock-out game. Even posterboy Fred Michalak's presence should have been good to sell a few tickets to the ladies. Yet a third of the ground was empty.
Read more: http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,2...004660,00.html