Poor attendance first Lions match ?

Raiser

Only just got a chance to stick on first match via Sky+ [Highveld XV Sat 30th June]

- Why is there only 9 people in the stands?

thomond2006

A simple answer.

The Bulls were playing the Super 14 Final at Loftus Versfeld down the road from Rustenburg and therefore was the main attraction of the day.

Compare this to the the lure of a Limerick Gaelic Football NFL match over Munster playing HEC at Thomond Park. A no-brainer.

Jackz

Raiser wrote: »

Only just got a chance to stick on first match via Sky+ [Highveld XV Sat 30th June]

- Why is there only 9 people in the stands?

Low enough attendance at the second match as well, a lot of the rugby audience has left the country, 25% of Afrikaners in the last 15 years.

CatFromHue

i think there may have been abit more to the second game
i think the stadium is in a tough area, hillbrow maybe, and was at night.
but i was amazed at how few were at it all the same.
will be interesting to see how well the cheetahs are supported tomorrow

The second game was in one of the worst areas in Joburg? I think.

As op said millions of Afrikaneer have left SA in recent years so thats alot of rugby fans gonnneee.

anonymous_joe

Jackz wrote: »

Low enough attendance at the second match as well, a lot of the rugby audience has left the country, 25% of Afrikaners in the last 15 years.

Hence the very real desire to turn Sarries into London Afrikaaner.

It's sad but inevitable I guess.

anonymous_joe

anonymous_joe wrote: »

Hence the very real desire to turn Sarries into London Afrikaaner.

It's sad but inevitable I guess.

I laugh now at ****s like my aunt who protested when the saffers played here years ago because of aparteid,I ask her why she doesnt protest now!

No answer.....

anonymous_joe

Zelda Careful Pekinese wrote: »

I laugh now at ****s like my aunt who protested when the saffers played here years ago because of aparteid,I ask her why she doesnt protest now!

No answer.....

People can deal with white South Africans being the villains it makes sense. Apartheid was an appalling thing. To quote my Dutch ex 'Apartheid's the only Dutch word the world knows.' It was a brutal and cruel system.

However, that doesn't justify discrimination against white black gay or any other South Africans.

anonymous_joe

anonymous_joe wrote: »

People can deal with white South Africans being the villains it makes sense. Apartheid was an appalling thing. To quote my Dutch ex 'Apartheid's the only Dutch word the world knows.' It was a brutal and cruel system.

However, that doesn't justify discrimination against white black gay or any other South Africans.

People ignore the killing of the Boer farmers and general white people in SA because such behavior has been made acceptable all over the world.

You cant be rascist to anyone except the hetrosexual white male,very sad.
Aparteid was bad extremely bad but black people were actually better off towards the end of it i.e early 1990's.They had a better life then they have now.

They are now stuck with a bunch of clowns ruining the country,in 10 yrs SA will be a 4th tier rugby team and 3rd world country because of positive discrimination and general idiocy.

Up until their last elections,their health minister claimed lemon juice was a cure for aids.That the type of idiot retards running the country now.

chupacabra

Zelda Careful Pekinese wrote: »

People ignore the killing of the Boer farmers and general white people in SA because such behavior has been made acceptable all over the world.

You cant be rascist to anyone except the hetrosexual white male,very sad.
Aparteid was bad extremely bad but black people were actually better off towards the end of it i.e early 1990's.They had a better life then they have now.

They are now stuck with a bunch of clowns ruining the country,in 10 yrs SA will be a 4th tier rugby team and 3rd world country because of positive discrimination and general idiocy.

Up until their last elections,their health minister claimed lemon juice was a cure for aids.That the type of idiot retards running the country now.

Their current president had unprotected sex with a HIV positive prostitute and claimed that it was ok because he took a shower afterwards. And the leader of the ANC youth league said at a rally "We will pick up arms and kill (white south africans) for Jacob Zuma" and then there is the "night of the long knives" thing.... its a sinking ship.

Back on topic tho, it was a low attendance because Vodacom park is in Hillbrow which is a very very dangerous place at any time of the day. I would expect higher numbers tomorrow.

themont85

chupacabra wrote: »

Their current president had unprotected sex with a HIV positive prostitute and claimed that it was ok because he took a shower afterwards. And the leader of the ANC youth league said at a rally "We will pick up arms and kill (white south africans) for Jacob Zuma" and then there is the "night of the long knives" thing.... its a sinking ship.

Back on topic tho, it was a low attendance because Vodacom park is in Hillbrow which is a very very dangerous place at any time of the day. I would expect higher numbers tomorrow.

You gotta love how back in the day there was so much protests about apartheid and sport being played there(rightfully too) but now South Africa is deemed okay to host 1)the second biggest sporting event the soccer world cup and 2)Lions tours, cricket world cups, rugby world cups ect when the country is still in the **** heap. Clowns running the country who refuse to accept the realities of the Aids epidemic. Gangs and crime rampant. I know several South Africans who left the country because of this(of course they are lucky they can afford it unlike the blacks during apartheid but it still doesn't make it right).

One thing i am looking forward to is the movie http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invictus_(film) about Mandela and the '95 World Cup. Hopefully it will focus some minds back on South Africa and put pressure on them to really heal the racial rifts and actually look after the place properly.

Stephan Jones in his column(I know it i shouldn't read it but its electronic and thus not suitable for toilet paper) says that there is just 18,000 sold again for tomorrow. Dissapointing to say the least, but in fairness from a Saffers point of view the games are gonna be one sided for the Lions cos there is no Springboks there and they have probably better priorities than us(who love the sporting event a bit too much).

chupacabra

themont85 wrote: »

Stephan Jones in his column(I know it i shouldn't read it but its electronic and thus not suitable for toilet paper) says that there is just 18,000 sold again for tomorrow. Dissapointing to say the least, but in fairness from a Saffers point of view the games are gonna be one sided for the Lions cos there is no Springboks there and they have probably better priorities than us(who love the sporting event a bit too much).

Well, Vodacom parks attendance is around the 40,000 mark so half filling the stadium wouldnt be a complete disaster... but 18,000 is still rather weak. Makes you wonder whether Lions Tours are indeed financially viable to the host countries anymore.

Trojan

Guys, keep it to the rugby only please, Politics is over here if you want to discuss that.

toomevara

While the political debate is an interesting one, and as pointed out belongs on another forum, I think the answer to the poor attendance is a little more prosaic. Put simply, tickets/packages have been massively overpriced, taking the casual sometime SA rugby fan out of the equation (if you think the economy's bad here, SA's is on a whole different plain) and packages on this side of the world were grossly, almost extortionately over priced....I looked into going and found the money asked insane...while I'm a fanatical rugby fan and regard the Lions as one of the greatest events in world rugby, I'm not prepared to be taken advantage of by unscrupulous travel firms after a scalp...

Now, I know crap rolls downhill and I'm sure the lions organisation have overpriced and overreached themselves, thus forcing the package operators to up their prices...but ultimately, and I now this is almost an heretical thing to say, its just a few games of rugby in a massively over crowded rugby calendar, which makes ever increasing demands (often wholly unjustifiable) on our pockets.

In the end I just wasn't prepared to penurise myself for a year or so to follow the lions. I'm sure alot of fans, from both hemispheres have made the same calculation.

Amabokke

This question was raised a few times now about attendance. Well, for the Royal match it was because of the S14 final and we thought that was the only reason.

However, after the second match on Ellis Park attendance were very low again and that it is because of two reasons, high ticket pricing and also to watch a very very poor Lions team getting hammered by 12 tries. No one wants to pay absorbant prices and watch your team getting hammered like that when you can watch it at home or a pub with a few beers.

The Lions and Cheetahs are the two weakest SA teams so you can expect attendance to be low but it will increase against the better teams i.e Western Province, Sharks.

The first test has already been sold out and from a boks supporter's view the Lions tour is a BIG thing in SA. It is definitely not a minor tour and people can't wait for the first test. People has huge respect for Ian and the Lions.

Don't think for one second a poor attendance mean no interested. Our rugby papers and websites are full of rugby everyday as it is one area where the white man can still find a bit of hope!

ch2008

Gives a rather sad insight. The FIFA WC looks worrying on this account

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2009/0606/1224248173810.html

Warming a lot to JOS articles too, less abstract than LT and a bit less Lord-of-the-ringsy than GT

escobar

Sad to see .Has no one gone over to support the lions.

Considering 5 nations were playing the attendances for the 1st and 2nd match were seriously bad.

anonymous_joe

escobar wrote: »

Sad to see .Has no one gone over to support the lions.

Considering 5 nations were playing the attendances for the 1st and 2nd match were seriously bad.

In fairness I was planning on heading over with a few friends, but the lads who've been to southern Africa before vetoed it. They said it was too expensive and then, well, too dangerous.

Serenity Now!

escobar wrote: »

Sad to see .Has no one gone over to support the lions

Its only in its second week of games.
Travelling on a Lions package is not cheap and people, unless I'm much mistaken, will prefer to be present in the latter half of the tour ie. when the Tests are kicking off (anyone I know, for example, who is going is not leaving until the week leading to the first Test). Irish rugby union fans for one will have been doing a hell of a lot of travelling already this season.

toomevara

Serenity Now! wrote: »

Its only in its second week of games.
Travelling on a Lions package is not cheap and people, unless I'm much mistaken, will prefer to be present in the latter half of the tour ie. when the Tests are kicking off (anyone I know, for example, who is going is not leaving until the week leading to the first Test). Irish rugby union fans for one will have been doing a hell of a lot of travelling already this season.

QFT, on all counts.I'm permanently skint as a result of following RL/RU. My better half reckons i'd be better off if I'd just cultivate a raging coke habit.

Jackz

escobar wrote: »

Sad to see .Has no one gone over to support the lions.

Considering 5 nations were playing the attendances for the 1st and 2nd match were seriously bad.

Travelling support isn't the main problem, in terms of filling a 42,000 seater stadium they would be incidental.

escobar

Jackz wrote: »

Travelling support isn't the main problem, in terms of filling a 42,000 seater stadium they would be incidental.

True but they are seriously low attendance figures . Thought even a small lions support should push the figures up. Not much better at today's match.

Hopefully it'll pick up as the matches go on.

toomevara

Appalling attendance yet again tonight and a completely flat atmosphere to boot. Really bizzare, this is becoming a serious issue for this Lions tour. Given the amount of hype, hoopla and general nonsense peddled before the series, you'd have to say so far its been a massive damp squib...For me its really, really detracting from the tour...it's almost as if the SA rugby going public aren't bothered about anything beyond the tests, I'm really surprised...

chupacabra

toomevara wrote: »

Appalling attendance yet again tonight and a completely flat atmosphere to boot. Really bizzare, this is becoming a serious issue for this Lions tour. Given the amount of hype, hoopla and general nonsense peddled before the series, you'd have to say so far its been a massive damp squib...For me its really, really detracting from the tour...it's almost as if the SA rugby going public aren't bothered about anything beyond the tests, I'm really surprised...

Expect a full stadium on saturday.

Davei141

chupacabra wrote: »

Expect a full stadium on saturday.

Been saying that since the Royal XV. I would say a half full stadium again come Saturday.

Stealdo

In so far as the travelling support is concerned guys it's never gonna be there before the week of the first test. Most people who travel don't even go till the second test, or they're home before the third. Anyone who's out there now will have had to take 6 weeks off work and spend about 8k to do it, you'd want to be the richest unemployed person around or out of your head. It will pick up next week, maybe from Saturday.

danthefan

Haven't read the thread so sorry if this has been said but the tickets are just too expensive.

Pinetree Boy

Was reading this thread. Mostly rubbish but one reply said ticket for Sharks (think) 13 pound equivalent. Seems reasonable.


http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/ericjanssen/blog/2009/06/07/south_africa_your_disrespect_for_the_lions_tour_is_a_disgrace

ALH-06

Pinetree Boy wrote: »

Was reading this thread. Mostly rubbish but one reply said ticket for Sharks (think) 13 pound equivalent. Seems reasonable.


http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/ericjanssen/blog/2009/06/07/south_africa_your_disrespect_for_the_lions_tour_is_a_disgrace

Some interesting points there alright, but all the mildly offensive stereotyping aside, I'd have to agree with the OP. Attendances (including today v. Sharks) have been very disappointing so far - the apparent lack of interest in the provincial games bears a stark contrast to previous tours like NZ 2005.

Is it really ticket pricing? Is it indifference to NH rugby, which has not competed well with the SH in the recent past? Or does it point to deeper considerations - social and societal - within South Africa and particularly with regard to the future of rugby in the country...?

toomevara

From Todays Indo;

Local Apathy Puts Touring Ethos at Risk

By Peter Bills
Thursday June 11 2009

The empty seats at the ABSA Stadium in Durban last night spoke volumes. Hopefully, Cape Town rugby supporters will fill their Newlands ground on Saturday for the game with Western Province.

But you have to say thus far, the response to the presence of the 2009 Lions in South Africa has been poor. What are the South Africans trying to say? They're no longer interested in the Lions being there?

The air of disinterest created by vast swathes of empty seats in Rustenburg, Johannesburg and Bloemfontein suggests as much.

I can hardly believe all this. The fuss about the Lions going there seemed to dominate South African rugby for the last 18 months. They had waited 12 long years to see them again and whenever I was there in the last year or two, I was told that no-one could wait. The long absence certainly seemed to have made hearts grow fonder. Well, that was the message being put about. All I can say is, the reaction now the Lions have arrived is a strange way for the locals to show their love for them.

care

It seems to me pretty clear that people are voting with their feet. Thousands of South African rugby supporters couldn't care less whether they see the Lions play or not. Take Bloemfontein and last weekend. It will be 2021 before a Lions touring team plays there again, if they ever do. You'd have thought the locals would have poured in to see how the Cheetahs fared against them.

Instead, we saw vast banks of seats in most stands deserted. Even those that had supporters were comparatively sparsely filled. So-called rugby fans couldn't be bothered to turn up.

What explains all this? A surfeit of rugby already this season, a sign that the authorities are killing the goose that lays the golden egg by putting on so many games and making sure they're all live on TV, too? Could be.

Is it that people are now only really interested in Test matches, reasoning that the minor matches carry little relevance? It might be, especially given the fact that the locals have, thus far, played greatly weakened teams against the tourists. All the Springboks likely to be involved in the three-match Test series have been kept well out of sight, a policy also employed in 1997.

Or is it a comment on the mediocrity of the 2009 Lions, the fact that, Brian O'Driscoll excepted, they have no world-class stars like Dan Carter, Richie McCaw, Victor Matfield or Pierre Spies, and, from earlier eras, players such as Jack Kyle, Cliff Morgan, Tony O'Reilly, Gareth Edwards, Mike Gibson, JPR Williams, etc? It could be that.

Too many supporters have become seduced by television's inevitable focus on the stars, the real names of world rugby. The rest have been sidelined as little better than moderate.

Whatever the cause, this disturbing lack of support for the Lions in the provincial matches is a mighty dangerous trend. World rugby already allows a scenario whereby countries just fly in for Test matches and then fly out. The French are currently in New Zealand and Australia but they won't actually tour. Over the next three Saturdays, they play New Zealand twice and Australia. Then they fly home. That's not touring, Lions-style.

No-one can rule out a future scenario whereby the Lions might prepare at home for a week, play a warm-up game at home, and then fly in for three Tests. All it would take to see the provincial games cut would be a clear disinterest among fans in the three southern hemisphere countries the Lions visit.

Of course, that would be a tragedy, for they represent the whole ethos of a Lions trip: taking the game all around the host country.

But, if too many people are saying, in effect, they're no longer interested in going to watch them when they are in one of the host countries, what do you do? Play to half-empty grounds?

That's no panacea for the continuing future of the Lions concept.

escobar

Maybe there's too many matches. Are they advertised properly in South Africa.....
It's only 9 days until the first match against the Springboks and the combined attendance for all matches is only seventy nine thousand.

themont85

escobar wrote: »

Maybe there's too many matches. Are they advertised properly in South Africa.....
It's only 9 days until the first match against the Springboks and the combined attendance for all matches is only seventy nine thousand.

Less matches than ever really.

SA knows all about this tour. In 97 matches were at least three quarters full. There is a vareity of reasons as to why this has occured including social and economic. But also the Saffers are arrogant as are the SH. They are world champions and NH rugby is laughed at down there. I would take it as a bit of disrespect from a lions player pov, hopefully this will help motivate them further.

escobar

themont85 wrote: »

Less matches than ever really.

SA knows all about this tour. In 97 matches were at least three quarters full. There is a vareity of reasons as to why this has occured including social and economic. But also the Saffers are arrogant as are the SH. They are world champions and NH rugby is laughed at down there. I would take it as a bit of disrespect from a lions player pov, hopefully this will help motivate them further.

Really didn't know that....

The Southern Kings are next and no doubt there'll be full houses after for all the springbok matches....

The springboks may well get a big surprise......No losses yet and Ian Mc Geechan will have the team solidified by now after trying out the diffent players and combinations .

Pity though O Callaghan who's captain for the next match most probably wont be playing in the first match against the springboks.

I'd be quietly confident that the lions may edge the series 2-1. No mean feat against the world champions..

Legion2008

Slightly off topic here but the attendance at the confederations cup match between Spain and New Zealand was extremely low as well ....

Recession is bitting hard so the public are being very selective about how to spend their money

shanagarry

I think the South African Rugby Union have to take some of the blame for the ticket distribution as well. For the provincial games all the season ticket holders got first dibs on their seats and the leftovers went on general sale. For the Western Province game only standing tickets went on sale, and everyone was effectively told that the game was sold out last February. Then a week or two before the game, tickets appear on Computicket, the Ticketmaster equivalent. That wasn't publicised at all though, I found out from a friend who decided to chance it.

So you end up with a scenario of another half empty stadium where tickets weren't taken up but those who wanted tickets were told they weren't available... Something odd going on there.

It's the same story with the test tickets. Only a few Ellis Park tickets went on general sale so people shelled out fortunes for hospitality tickets and now there are a few thousand tickets available for each of the tests. I suspect there will be empty seats at the tests now as well as it's very late to be making travel arrangement.

zAbbo

The travelling support numbers were supposed to be well below expectations, but the average attendance so far is around 24,000 - which isn't great.

In NZ '05 - they didn't have any huge stadiums with the tests averaging around 42,000 (not sure on warm-ups)

zenmonk

I think the tickets are 3 times dearer than for Super 14. It really is a novelty tour at this stage.
What will happen as I read somewhere, the Lions will get together for a fortnight in the UK or Irl and train with a warm up game or 2 against say the Babas or an English club team and then fly down for the test games with a panel of 25ish and come home again.
Cuts back on costs big time. Not a tour per se but money is everything now in sport.

crisco10

zenmonk wrote: »

What will happen as I read somewhere, the Lions will get together for a fortnight in the UK or Irl and train with a warm up game or 2 against say the Babas or an English club team and then fly down for the test games with a panel of 25ish and come home again.
Cuts back on costs big time. Not a tour per se but money is everything now in sport.

That would be horrible.

zenmonk

Agreed. Hopefully never see it. I wouldn't be a massive fan of the Lions concept anymore but I do enjoy the games tbh.

OldJay

escobar wrote: »

Maybe there's too many matches. Are they advertised properly in South Africa.....
It's only 9 days until the first match against the Springboks and the combined attendance for all matches is only seventy nine thousand.

The tests will be full-houses. I don't know what people are worried about, to be honest. The pre-Test games are always like this for Lions tours and in Sth Africa, they're not exactly played in small grounds.

Its an expensive trip for the discerning supporter, especially for Irish supporters who will have been following a 6N with three away games and an ERC that had two Irish provinces at Semi-Final stage. If someone only has three weeks to take on vacation and follow the tour, which games do you think they'll choose?

ibuprofen

I believe the games against the springboks will be full houses. Think the lions will have a good chance too.

An average of 24000 for the matches up to now isn't that much .Completley cynical of the sa teams,kings, to try and break up /injure the lions before the first springbok match. Be interesting to see what the first test team is.
Have to win the first test to keep the good momentum going.......

Amabokke

themont85 wrote: »

Less matches than ever really.

SA knows all about this tour. In 97 matches were at least three quarters full. There is a vareity of reasons as to why this has occured including social and economic. But also the Saffers are arrogant as are the SH. They are world champions and NH rugby is laughed at down there. I would take it as a bit of disrespect from a lions player pov, hopefully this will help motivate them further.

That's not the reason for half full stadiums. The 3 key issues were high ticket prices (R230 per match), which is alot for an average person, the fact that some of the matches were mid-week starting at 7:00PM and because the boks did not play.

South Africans might be passionate about their rugby and have general good knowledge about it as about 80% of boys in school plays it from a young age but that does not mean we are arrogant. We fully respect our opposition if they select their strongest team and play with passion and guts.

In fact every time the NH tours down south they send second string teams, if the IRB ask for new laws to be trialled and tested the NH always backs out of it.

escobar

Amabokke wrote: »

That's not the reason for half full stadiums. The 3 key issues were high ticket prices (R230 per match), which is alot for an average person, the fact that some of the matches were mid-week starting at 7:00PM and because the boks did not play.

South Africans might be passionate about their rugby and have general good knowledge about it as about 80% of boys in school plays it from a young age but that does not mean we are arrogant. We fully respect our opposition if they select their strongest team and play with passion and guts.

In fact every time the NH tours down south they send second string teams, if the IRB ask for new laws to be trialled and tested the NH always backs out of it.

The first test only had 47,813 people at it. What's going on Amabokke.

Heard something about it on the radio and a South African Commentator was saying that tickets allocated to lions fans had been returned. But surely it should have filled anyway.......

Doesn't look like the south Africans are taking the tour very seriously at all...:mad:

themont85

Amabokke wrote: »

That's not the reason for half full stadiums. The 3 key issues were high ticket prices (R230 per match), which is alot for an average person, the fact that some of the matches were mid-week starting at 7:00PM and because the boks did not play.

South Africans might be passionate about their rugby and have general good knowledge about it as about 80% of boys in school plays it from a young age but that does not mean we are arrogant. We fully respect our opposition if they select their strongest team and play with passion and guts.

In fact every time the NH tours down south they send second string teams, if the IRB ask for new laws to be trialled and tested the NH always backs out of it.

Ireland always play their full teams on tour. I don't agree with it but they do. NZ, SA and Oz rarely do in the NH, they treat them as development tours more often than not.

This is a SA problem, not a Lions one.

Amabokke

escobar wrote: »

The first test only had 47,813 people at it. What's going on Amabokke.

Heard something about it on the radio and a South African Commentator was saying that tickets allocated to lions fans had been returned. But surely it should have filled anyway.......

Doesn't look like the south Africans are taking the tour very seriously at all...:mad:

Price...price...price, why spent R1300 on a ticket when you can watch it at home with friends, drinks and a bbq.

SA is taking this tour very seriously, it has nothing to do with no interest. It's all down to price.

I've been living in Ireland for 10 years and could not believe how expensive things were the last time I went home.

OldJay

Amabokke wrote: »

Price...price...price, why spent R1300 on a ticket when you can watch it at home with friends, drinks and a bbq.

SA is taking this tour very seriously, it has nothing to do with no interest. It's all down to price.

I've been living in Ireland for 10 years and could not believe how expensive things were the last time I went home.

The prices are set by the home union so its doubly sad that this happens.

Amabokke

Justind wrote: »

The prices are set by the home union so its doubly sad that this happens.

Obviously greed and the bad financial crisis caused them to do this in hoping they'd generate millions and it backfired!

shanagarry

Absolutely agree on the price issue - R1,140 is expensive for a match in European terms, but for someone earning rand it is a fortune. And then you have to factor in flights, accommodation etc if you're not locally based. A trip to Pretoria from Cape Town at the weekend is costing R7,500 for two of us, before any food and drink.

The other issue is with ticket distribution. I'm not sure whether they were Lions or SA tickets, but a vast number of tickets were returned. However, they were only put on sale the Friday before last, and the sale wasn't widely publicised. After being told back in Feb that no tickets for Durban and Loftus were going on general sale, and a handful for Ellis that sold out in minutes, people had resigned themselves to not going and hadn't made travel arrangements. Even for people like me who were willing to shell out to make it, flights just weren't available. My company booked for client entertainment at the Durban match months ago and still ended up with people flying via Jo'burg and on private jets! And there is no flight whatsoever left (with any of five airlines) from Cape Town to Jo'burg on Friday.

Amabokke

shanagarry wrote: »

Absolutely agree on the price issue - R1,140 is expensive for a match in European terms, but for someone earning rand it is a fortune. And then you have to factor in flights, accommodation etc if you're not locally based. A trip to Pretoria from Cape Town at the weekend is costing R7,500 for two of us, before any food and drink.

The other issue is with ticket distribution. I'm not sure whether they were Lions or SA tickets, but a vast number of tickets were returned. However, they were only put on sale the Friday before last, and the sale wasn't widely publicised. After being told back in Feb that no tickets for Durban and Loftus were going on general sale, and a handful for Ellis that sold out in minutes, people had resigned themselves to not going and hadn't made travel arrangements. Even for people like me who were willing to shell out to make it, flights just weren't available. My company booked for client entertainment at the Durban match months ago and still ended up with people flying via Jo'burg and on private jets! And there is no flight whatsoever left (with any of five airlines) from Cape Town to Jo'burg on Friday.

That's just bloody madness.

This happens when the "green" ones are in charge.

Stealdo

Amabokke wrote: »

Price...price...price, why spent R1300 on a ticket when you can watch it at home with friends, drinks and a bbq.

It seems to me - and you can correct me if I'm wrong here, but there's a cultural difference as well that people aren't really getting. In Ireland we have this annoying thing about 'being there' where it's almost more important than seeing the game or even the outcome of the game. There's a real 'I was there when...' bragging thing going on. I don't think that exists to the same extent in other countries and particularly in SH countries where as you say people will make the more sensible decision of for the same price I can buy a barbecue, meat, beers and have a few friends over and still see the game. 'Being there' is not as big of a deal.

I doubt too many people were barbecuing last night mind you

Amabokke

Stealdo wrote: »

It seems to me - and you can correct me if I'm wrong here, but there's a cultural difference as well that people aren't really getting. In Ireland we have this annoying thing about 'being there' where it's almost more important than seeing the game or even the outcome of the game. There's a real 'I was there when...' bragging thing going on. I don't think that exists to the same extent in other countries and particularly in SH countries where as you say people will make the more sensible decision of for the same price I can buy a barbecue, meat, beers and have a few friends over and still see the game. 'Being there' is not as big of a deal.

I doubt too many people were barbecuing last night mind you

Probably right, not too many people in SA will go for the sake to say "We were there", they will simple go for a night out and to socialise with friends. Mind you, the S14 games attract more supporters than Lions tests because tickets are cheaper. When people go it will also be the whole family that goes incl moms, sisters, granny's and not just the men.