Players and fans give afternoon rugby a massive thumbs up
For the longest time, afternoon kick-offs in New Zealand have been restricted to Mitre 10 Cup matches and the odd test match. On Sunday, the Blues hosted the Hurricanes in the first mid-afternoon match of the Super Rugby Aotearoa season and it was a massive hit for both the fans and the players.
Over 43,000 spectators turned up at the sold-out Eden Park – rivalling the crowds that were on hand for the Blues’ match against the touring British and Irish Lions in 2017 and the Blues’ play-off matches in 2003.
Obviously, it helped that the Blues were sitting on a four-match winning streak and that new signing Beauden Barrett was set to make his debut for the club while the weather also thankfully played ball – but the fans showed that there’s certainly an appetite for afternoon footy in New Zealand.
Players have been clamouring for earlier matches too because the quality of rugby they’re able to play is typically significantly higher. By 7PM a heavy dew has normally set in around rugby pitches – especially so in winter – but there’s no such problem when matches kick off at 3:30.
Barrett, the man of the hour, was emphatic that Sunday afternoon matches are great for the game.
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“It was fantastic to play in the afternoon. I think it’s great for everyone,” Barrett said following Sunday’s match. “The product is pretty good, the ball isn’t dewy, so you see a more expansive game, hopefully, and hopefully we can get more of it, especially on Sundays.”
His former teammate, Reed Prinsep, who was on the losing side on Sunday, was also full of praise for running out on a dry track.
“I’m a big fan of the afternoon game,” Prinsep said. “Obviously, I’ve had a taste of it at Mitre 10 Cup level, but I absolutely love it.
“It’s awesome because families can get out there, kids can get out there and they can get home and it’s a normal bedtime routine. Certainly, from my point of view and most of the players, afternoon footy is awesome.”
Prinsep also enjoyed the opportunity to run out onto the park at the same time as his opposition.
“I thought it was amazing running out of the tunnel alongside each other. You just take a moment to soak it all in and look around and it put a smile on my face.”
While professional rugby matches in New Zealand have gravitated towards later kick-off times over the years to draw in as many overseas viewers as possible, stadium chock full of spectators enhances the atmosphere for everyone at the stadium as well as everyone watching from home.
Even though matches in the UK and Ireland tend to attract similar numbers as the NZ games, stadiums in the Northern Hemisphere tend to be considerably smaller so there are far fewer empty seats. Games up north also tend to kick off in the mid-afternoon which again appeals to families.
Meanwhile, a combined 750,000 New Zealanders tuned in for the first two games of Super Rugby Aotearoa and the Warriors’ NRL clash against the Cowboys on Friday night,
Sky Sport’s The Breakdown reported that the Super Rugby viewing figures was a whopping 92 per cent increase on average audiences.
If fans continue to vote with their feet and show up week after week at the stadiums across New Zealand, then the powers that be will be forced to offer afternoon Super Rugby matches for the years to come – which can only be a good thing for the spectators across the country who want to bear witness to live rugby.
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
26 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
26 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
26 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
26 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
26 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to comments