Location, location
As we look forward to a new year of rugby, we can play the numbers game – all part of that favourite word in 21st Century sporting competitions, legacy.
What will be the fall-out from the World Cup? How far will rugby nations benefit from its influence?
The questions pile up:
Will the full-blast coverage of football’s European Cup have any affect on women’s rugby gates? That will be of minimum interest to everyone living beyond the smallest known continent, but it has had an overwhelming influence on media outlets. The attendance figures there put rugby’s to shame.
As for rugby: let’s more people attend Six Nations games this year. We have to be very careful in our definitions: ticketed or non-ticketed games; accurate turnstile totals and online purchases or optimistic round-ups; standalones or double-headers? Spain and Italy are adding another version of the latter: the two national sides meet in Barcelona, then their Under 20 versions – excellent!
Even the RWC final record of 42,579 at Eden Park doesn’t clear every fence: it was a double- header. The one game Kiwis were happy to attend was preceded by a third-place tussle between France and Canada. How many were present at the kick-off to that match? I doubt we will ever be told.
And the final rush for tickets started only after the Black Ferns had struggled to beat France by a single point in a heart-stopping semi-final. That was a last-minute act of devotion to recurrent world champions.
Will the 2023 Six Nations profit?
We have to be very grateful to John Birch of scrumqueens.com for his meticulous research into all things women’s rugby. On 8 April 2022 he listed the current records for attendance at standalone matches (the only honourable set of figures?)
France: 17,440 v England (Grenoble) 2018
England: 10,974 v Wales (Twickenham Stoop) 2020
Spain: 9,000 v Netherlands (Madrid) 2019
Ireland: 6,113 v Wales (Dublin) 2022
Wales: 4,875 v Scotland (Cardiff) 2022
Italy: 4,500 v Ireland (L’Aquila) 2017
Scotland: 3,988 v England (Edinburgh) 2022
(Source: www.scrumqueens.com/news/womens-rugby-attendance-records-tumbling-0
This table roughly mirrors a typical 6 Nations sequence, France and England at the top, Scotland at the bottom. The delightful surprise is to see Spain claiming the bronze medal, once more raising the question of their ousting from the tournament. With loud voices telling us that South Africa must/will be added to the men’s version, we are left wondering why the same shouldn’t happen to Las Leonas.
That top figure of 17,440 was an absolute stunner at the time, but curiously it hasn’t been beaten in the last five years (the pandemic must share the blame). Much depends on the grounds chosen to host the biggest games. The last France-England match was held in Bayonne at the Stade Jean Dauger, (ground capacity 14,370 or 16,900 depending on your source), but it hadn’t completed its rebuild as planned. Room for 11,000 only.
Can each union afford to go exclusively for bigger grounds to beat the standing record? That would go against the ongoing policy of France, Ireland and England of spreading the venues around the country. England have wisely selected Kingston Park Newcastle for the Scotland match. No chance of any records being set there, but a lot of goodwill ensured, That must be the ultimate aim.
Since Birch compiled his figures, the Red Roses have twice beaten their 2020 record*; it is now held by Leicester’s Mattioli Woods Welford Road Stadium at 15,836. But the ground’s capacity is officially 25,849, so there is still room for improvement. That remains a target the 6N has yet to reach: none of the grounds mentioned in this piece could boast ‘Full House’. Even Eden Park’s attendance had limits set on it.
Wales’ record gate is limited by the highly complex nature of the Arms Park Stadium, now a mere add-on to the Principality Stadium to which it is physically linked. Every Welsh rugby fan would like to see the ground redeveloped, but there are legal as well as funding limits set. Its official capacity is 12,125, but the Welsh team has yet to attract crowds of that size.
In 2022 Ireland at last moved away from its Energia Park ground, Donnybrook. Despite its advantageous central position and warm atmosphere, the cramped accommodation meant it could not hope to raise its capacity beyond 6,000. The move to the DMS Stadium also in Dublin allowed more room (18,500), but the IRFU has repaid Musgrove Park Cork for its wholehearted support of the Italy match last year (over 5,000), by offering it both its plum games against France and England.
DAM Health Stadium in Edinburgh (capacity 7,800) is a recent parallel to the Arms Park, backing on to the National Stadium at Murrayfield. The one disadvantage of the ground – as visible from TV coverage last season – is the number of pillars holding up the main north stand; they cast doubt on the funding available for the rebuild two years ago. Nothing more frustrating than having intervening metal obstruct your view of a game.
Italy ran counter to the trend of spreading the game country-wide. Probably only too aware of the slim numbers attending home games, the FIR decided to stick to one venue, Padua. The strategy has yet to take wing. But after the tremendous performance the Azzurre put in during the RWC, they deserve the fullest backing.
These details point towards a double search: for larger stadiums to welcome larger audiences; and a wider spread of locations enabling more people to enjoy international rugby at close quarters. In this respect the women’s Six Nations stands in stark contrast to the men’s, which sticks rigidly to its national stadiums, forcing spectators to travel vast distances to enjoy the fare on offer.
*Strangely enough, that 2020 game was the last to survive the start of lockdown. I for one felt uneasy at being present.
Some 2022 6 Nations’ attendances in cold figures
Italy v England, 1,700
Scotland v England 3,988
Wales v Scotland 4,875
Ireland v Wales 6,113
France v Ireland 12,000
France v Italy 13,500
England v Wales 14,689
England v Ireland 15,863
Speeding the game up
World Rugby’s reminders about time-limits (4theloveofsport.co.uk/2022/12/30/world-rugby- reminds-us-of-the-passage-of-time/) may encourage more people to attend games. Stoppages and delays don’t affect the women’s game as badly as the men’s, but can still put people off.(Stats from five major men’s tournaments show the ball in play between 32 and 36 minutes only!)
We must hope that all the measures proposed by WR can be introduced in time for the start of the next Six Nations in March.
That will be a meaningful legacy.
