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- Tim Clarke
- August 25, 2009 - 7:30AM
Under fire ... Subiaco Oval.
Wallaby stars and the WA government are both banking on a full house for the Tri-Nations clash against South Africa at Subiaco Oval on Saturday night to help head off criticism of the team and the venue.
But almost 9000 tickets to the match remained unsold yesterday afternoon, despite Tourism minister Liz Constable claiming more than 3000 people would be travelling to Perth to attend, and the game itself could attract a worldwide audience of more than 130 million.
Ms Constable denied Perth should be embarrassed to show a Test at a stadium universally condemned as unsuitable for rugby.
"Subiaco Oval has stood us in great stead for many years ... quite clearly we would rather have a purpose built rugby stadium, but Subiaco is what we have got and it is going to be a great night on Saturday night," Ms Constable said.
"I am expecting it to be full to overflowing at Subiaco on Saturday night, I go to the rugby quite often and there are great rugby crowds in WA."
Wallaby prop Ben Alexander said a packed house in Perth would negate the distance between the crowd and the play, which Western Force fans have loudly railed against since the Super 14 team's inception
"There has been a lot of criticism of ANZ Stadium in Sydney, and everyone who was there on Saturday will agree when it is a full house it is unbelievable, but if it's not full it can lack a bit of atmosphere," Alexander said.
"With Subiaco, when it is full it is awesome. I was there in 2006 when the Brumbies played the Force in the first game, that was a full house and that was an awesome atmosphere.
"A full house detracts from the fact that the fans are a bit far away from the sidelines. A full house, the fans make the atmosphere not the stadium. We have got to get everyone there on Saturday."
Amid whispers that a poor attendance at the game could put Perth at risk of losing future Wallaby Tests, lock James Horwill said he hoped there would be more good memories for him and the team in WA in the future.
"Subiaco is a very special place for me, I made my Test debut here. It is always nice to come back here," Horwill said.
"Hopefully we can a get a big crowd here, when it is full it makes a lot of noise, so hopefully we can get a lot of Australian supporters.
"You always prefer to play in a rectangular stadium, but Subi has got a good atmosphere and we do enjoy playing here. Hopefully we can pack it out."
http://www.watoday.com.au/sport/rugb...0824-ewly.html
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