THE SCOTSMAN REPORTS

DAVID FERGUSON


THE spotlight has again fallen on Scottish rugby's poor attendances with news yesterday that Wales and Ireland have set new record crowds for the Celtic League.

The average gate for the nine games over the festive period was nearly 8,000 and reflects a seasonal improvement of nearly 20 per cent. Those figures were boosted by the 14,135 which packed into the Royal Dublin Society ground on New Year's Eve for Leinster's win over table-toppers Munster, the 12,300 who watched Ulster host Leinster on Boxing Day at Ravenhill and the 12,488 fans at the Arms Park for Cardiff's win over the Newport Gwent Dragons the following day.


There were more than the usual attractions to the Dublin and Cardiff games, notably the first home start of the season for Ireland and British and Irish Lions captain Brian O'Driscoll and the appearance of Jonah Lomu, who duly obliged the fans with his first try since returning to competitive rugby from a lengthy illness. However, as quick they were to acclaim the Celtic League trend in Wales and Ireland - which has fuelled hopes of a title sponsor for next season - tournament organisers unsurprisingly ignored the picture in Scotland.

Here, attendances were a somewhat deflating 3,818 for the Boxing Day clash between Edinburgh and the Border Reivers, while just 2,107 turned up at Netherdale on Hogmanay for the Reivers' derby victory over Glasgow. Yet, they were improvements on recent figures. The fourth Irish province, Connacht, are also struggling for attendances with just 2,100 turning up for their game with Munster, which is just above their average gate for the season.

Edinburgh have averaged 2,612, Glasgow 1,768 and the Reivers just 1,717, though the positive side is that they have shown improvement as the season has moved on, with each side proving more competitive than last season. This weekend could be an excellent test of whether Scottish supporters are returning as Edinburgh host Munster in the league's top-of-the-table clash on Saturday night, while the Reivers hope to benefit from the Lomu effect on Sunday when the legendary New Zealand wing takes the field for Cardiff at Netherdale.

This article was posted on 6-Jan-2006, 09:08 by Hugh Barrow.