Lions 2009 - Oval Talk: Where are the fans?

Eurosport - Wed, 17 Jun 07:32:00 2009

Is Oval Talk the only one disappointed by the meagre crowds in South Africa and why is more not being made about the complete balls-up in ticket pricing that has given the Lions tour a flat atmosphere to-date?

James Hook - 2009 Lions - 0

Lions tours have taken on something of a mystical element since the Gallagher brothers rocked the '97 squad to victory in South Africa under the watchful eye of a dedicated camera team. Success on the field was matched by modern marketing for the first time and all of a sudden the Lions became a licence to print money.

The 1997 series victory would have been repeated in 2001 had it not been for dour Kiwi coach Graham Henry, while four years later Sir Clive Woodward made a complete Horlicks of the task in New Zealand as he looked to stamp his professional, left-field thinking on a what has always been a quirky, amateur-like ethos.

But lessons were learnt in New Zealand and with the (re)appointment of Ian McGeechan as head coach we were all confident of a return to the good old days of 1997.

'Don't Look Back in Anger' was added to Ipods across the British Isles and Ireland, John Bentley's grinning mug reappeared in the media and a genuine sense of excitement developed as we tried to forget the gloom of recession.

So why then does the tour, after five matches and five wins, still feel rather flat in terms of atmosphere? And don't the men in red deserve much, much better than playing in front of half-full stadia?

We were told the Springboks had been waiting 12 years to exact their revenge; we were told the Lions were held in almost god-like esteem by the South African public after the 1974 feats of Gareth, JPR and Willie; we were told the South African nation has a passion for rugby like no other; we were even told their leading players had delayed retirement in order to have a crack at the best from UK and Ireland.

And yet, at not one of the games to date has there been a full stadium; quite the opposite in fact.

Harlequins and Leicester can get 50,000 to Twickenham for a mid-winter club match but the Lions have yet to get anywhere near that number in a rugby-mad nation apparently chomping at the bit for their arrival.

Sky Sports must be hopping mad at the large swathes of garish plastic on view. Where are all the large bearded men devouring huge quantities of boerwors and beer? Where are all the uber-healthy teens sporting great tans and trim torsos? Watching at home, that's where.

Why are the provinces able to pack out their stadiums for Super 14 games and not for the Lions? Simple, the ticket prices in recession-hit South Africa are just too high and the average rugby fan has chosen to stay away.

While the ticket prices - £18 for a tour match, £80 for a Test - may not seem too costly to us in Europe, it is clearly prohibiting many South Africans venturing from their sofas to witness the Lions in the flesh.

And why should they when national coach Peter De Villiers has withdrawn the nation's leading players from the provincial games?

Things will no doubt pick up at the weekend when the best of the Lions finally get to take on the best of South Africa, but there is a growing sense that the rugby authorities have got it badly wrong.

The Lions are doing their bit, but clearly SA Rugby has failed in its responsibility to make the tour an exciting product readily available to the average fan.

Terence O'Rorke / Eurosport

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  1. Where are the fans?

    First of all, there is a­ world-wide recession going on.

    Secondly, the tickets­ prices the Oval Talk quoted (£18 - £80) must be for­ mates of RFU as we, the ordinary fans, have to get them­ through "official tour/ticket" distributors­ who mark them up to extortionate amounts. Add that to­ the flight/hotel package and the average price to pay­ becomes close to £3000 or more. The South Africans,­ I'm told, have to buy season tickets in order to­ get a chance of obtaining the Test tickets.

    Last but­ not least, the Lions "myth" is no longer as­ strong as it was before. Rugby now is on telly almost­ year round and people down south can see GP, Magners,­ 6Nations and others, so they are far too familiar with­ the players and the so-called "myth" no­ longer pulls ... as they say, familiarity brings­ contempt. Plus all those diluted international tours­ taken after regular season with 2nd or 3rd teams and­ too many other sports taking away the attention and­ spending money from fans. You can cut the cake into so­ many pieces, but it doesn't make it bigger.

    From Girl666, on Wed 17 Jun 4:00PM

  2. cheers ptothej, thats a good site. I hadn't seen­ that one before.

    From markear1, on Wed 17 Jun 4:11AM

  3. or myp2p.eu and check out the forum, even gives you­ scheduled broadcasts for the week!!

    From ptothej, on Wed 17 Jun 3:50AM

  4. check out justin.tv they will give you the option of­ watching the SA or B+I coverage. Might not always be­ top quality but if you chat to the people who are­ watching at the same time they usually know where to­ find the best streams.

    From markear1, on Wed 17 Jun 1:43AM

  5. Interesting...... tell me how markear1

    From Donald D, on Wed 17 Jun 1:13AM

  6. Yes we do have the same system as yourselves. I'm­ sure you know that you can watch any live sporting­ event for free on the net without giving a penny to sky­ or setanta.

    From markear1, on Wed 17 Jun 12:53AM

  7. The highest bid always wins when you're a greedy­ @#$%. The RFU found that when they sold the England­ 6Nats rights to Sky they ended up with less viewers.­ Rightly so. Dunno if you have a TV licence fee in­ Ireland?

    From Donald D, on Tue 16 Jun 11:57PM

  8. By the way Donald, it's called business... highest­ bid always wins, you cannot pick who is going to have­ the tv rights. Anyway it's not exactly expensive­ and we now get to see every game instead of just the 3­ tests.

    From markear1, on Tue 16 Jun 11:22PM

  9. I travelled to the last lions tour in NZ but there was­ no way I was going to SA. Jo'burg is probably one­ of the most dangerous cities in the world for a tourist­ to visit. Cape Town is safer with only a few thousand­ murders a year, I think I will just save up for­ Australia in four years time.

    From markear1, on Tue 16 Jun 11:20PM

  10. If the Lions powers-that-be cared about their­ supporters back home, they wouldn't have sold the­ TV rights to pay TV (Sky)

    From Donald D, on Tue 16 Jun 7:51PM

  11. Stupid ticket prices and not playing the Boks in their­ provincial teams. It's SA's fault and if they­ can't buy into the Lions culture then perhaps we­ shouldn't be touring there.

    From BigRich, on Tue 16 Jun 7:49PM

  12. peter de villiers is the national coach, would you like­ me to write oval talk for you as it seems you struggle­ with it!

    From daniflowers20, on Tue 16 Jun 7:33PM

  13. fyi peter de villiers is the national coach

    From daniflowers20, on Tue 16 Jun 7:29PM

  14. Swizz !!!! You changed the 'there' to­ 'their' in the last sentence as I was­ commenting ! Cheeky.

    From IVAN R, on Tue 16 Jun 7:18PM

  15. What an awful piece of journalism.

    I had to read­ large parts of it several times to try and get the­ gist. "Sky Sports must be hopping mad at the large­ swathes of garish plastic on view" Eh..? What on­ earth is that about ?

    And what exactly did­ "Dour Kiwi coach Graham Henry do in 2001" ? ­

    Last sentence, does the author not know there from­ their ?
    Awful.

    From IVAN R, on Tue 16 Jun 7:16PM
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