Summary
The abiding memory of the recent autumn internationals was not the excellence of the All Blacks or England's inconsistency, the courage of the Scottish forwards in matching the South Africans or the lamentable performance of some referees. The stand-out feature of the recent spate of Tests in Britain and Ireland was in the stands - great swathes of empty seats in every direction.
Only Twickenham avoided this humiliation, at least when England were on duty but not when a multi-national, multi-talented Barbarians side took on South Africa's reserve XV. Just 31,318 souls parted with their money to watch last weekend's Barbarians- Springboks game, while 58,186 people watched the teams at the same stadium in 2007. That represents a collapse of almost 50 per cent in the space of three short years and it's not the only worrying sign for a game that has seen unprecedented growth since the dawn of professionalism.See the full content of this document
Extract
Numbers Don't Add Up
The bubble may not have burst but it appears to have sprung a leak. At international level a quick and less than scientific look at the first and last matches of the decade to be played at Murrayfield reveals a worrying trend.
As the above table illustrates, Six Nati...See the full content of this document
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