leinster 4
total-97,034
average-24,258

munster 3
total-45,444
average-15,148

ulster 4
total-39,635
average-9,908

scarlets 4
total-34,290
average-8,572

ospreys 5
total-41,854
average-8,370

cardiff 5
total-39,273
average-7,854

dragons 4
total-22,125
average-5,531

connacht 4
total-17,868
average-4,467

edinburagh 4
total-15,424
average-3,856

treviso 4
total-15,000
average-3,750

glasgow 4
total-14,624
average-3,656

zebre 3
total-7,075
average-2,358

gates numbers 2011-12 vs 2012-13=difference

dragons 3706........
ulster 5017.........
leinster 6582.......5813==down 769
ospreys 4107........
munster 7022........
scarlets 3408.......4074==up 666
glasgow 4189........
treviso 3614........4112==up 498
zebre (A) 5216......
edinburgh 4324......
cardiff 3996........3869==down 127

up 268 from same 4 games last season

2011-12 total 51,181 average 4,653
2012-13 so far 17,868 average 4,467

heineken cup 2011-12
toulouse (tier 1)..... 9120
gloucester (tier 3).... 5115
harlequins (tier 2)... 5420

total 19,655 average 6,552


heineken cup 2012-2013
biarritz (tier 1)
harlequins (tier 2) .... 8,199
zebre (tier 4)

Creedence wrote: Just for comparative purposes:

Premiership after 7 games

Average Total
Saracens 52083 104165
London Wasps 19978 79910
Leicester 19632 58896
Gloucester 13347 53386
Harlequins 13054 39163
Northampton 12694 50774
Bath 11043 44173
Worcester 8413 33651
London Irish 7998 23993
Sale Sharks 7714 23142
Exeter Chiefs 6727 20181
London Welsh 5163 20652

So the Rabo compares quite favourably. Doesn't tally with what Tomas was saying in the IT this weekend:

O’Leary believes compared to the Pro 12, the Premiership is more intense week on week, “whereas at home from my point of view, being involved in the international set-up you were rested even sometimes when you didn’t want to be. That’s not any slant on the Rabo,” he adds, nor on the quality of the leading teams, but he admits: “I found it hard to motivate myself for a lot of the Rabo games for the last year or two. Going away to wherever, with 2- 3000 in a 50 or 60,000- seater stadium ain’t exactly exciting. It’s up to you as a professional player to overcome that but I suppose human nature creeps in and the bigger games have bigger crowds and a better buzz, which naturally excites me.”

The O'Leary comments can't really be taken seriously. There's a love in going on between a new player and his team. Brian Smith has been bigging up his new boy from since before he had actually laced up a boot in anger for Irish and has been telling the media that Kidney would be mad to ignore him for the AI's.

Tomas has been doing his bit promoting the Club & Championship, he was always going to be asked to make the comparison in interview and after coming from one of the biggest clubs in Europe to at best a lower middle tier club he was never going to talk them or the AP down...

Really his comments can only be measured against when they were made, if it was after rounds one of the Aviva then he'll be just after playing against Sarries at Twickenham in front of 63k. Sure he's played four games at the Mad Stad since then and at best (for the Quins derby game) the ground was only 40% full at worst 24% full...

And when you compare the attendances for the team he joined against the team he left his comments become absolutely laughable.

1/9/12	16:30	Saracens	40 - 3	London Irish	Twickenham	63,102	Capacity: 82,000
8/9/12	15:00	London Irish	31 - 40	Gloucester Rugby	Madejski Stadium	5,828	Capacity: 24,105
15/9/12	15:00	London Wasps	43 - 14	London Irish	Adams Park	5,612	Capacity: 10,516
22/9/12	15:00	London Irish	29 - 22	Bath Rugby	Madejski Stadium	7,324	Capacity: 24,105
28/9/12	20:30	Worcester Warriors	35 - 11	London Irish	Sixways	8,418	Capacity: 12,024
6/10/12	15:00	London Irish	39 - 17	Northampton Saints	Madejski Stadium	7,918	Capacity: 24,105
28/10/12	14:15	London Irish	28 - 31	Harlequins	Madejski Stadium	10,247	Capacity: 24,105

thats a aviva pr piece if ever i saw one. tol commenting on going to murrayfield once a season when playing in an empty madstad for irish every 2nd week is a bit rich even for the premiership spin doctors.

the saracens figures include a double header at twickenham and a huge loss making extravaganza at wembley. they only get 5-6k at vicarage rd but move to their nrw ground in barnet in february( cap10k).
wasps figure also includes the doubleheader at twickers and they also average 5-6k in adams park.

saracens are losing 7m a year atm while wasps and irish around 2m pa. leicester and gloucester are the only ones reg in black afaik.

Just for comparative purposes:

Premiership after 7 games

Average Total
Saracens 52083 104165
London Wasps 19978 79910
Leicester 19632 58896
Gloucester 13347 53386
Harlequins 13054 39163
Northampton 12694 50774
Bath 11043 44173
Worcester 8413 33651
London Irish 7998 23993
Sale Sharks 7714 23142
Exeter Chiefs 6727 20181
London Welsh 5163 20652

So the Rabo compares quite favourably. Doesn't tally with what Tomas was saying in the IT this weekend:

O’Leary believes compared to the Pro 12, the Premiership is more intense week on week, “whereas at home from my point of view, being involved in the international set-up you were rested even sometimes when you didn’t want to be. That’s not any slant on the Rabo,” he adds, nor on the quality of the leading teams, but he admits: “I found it hard to motivate myself for a lot of the Rabo games for the last year or two. Going away to wherever, with 2- 3000 in a 50 or 60,000- seater stadium ain’t exactly exciting. It’s up to you as a professional player to overcome that but I suppose human nature creeps in and the bigger games have bigger crowds and a better buzz, which naturally excites me.”

leinster 4
total-97,034
average-24,258

munster 3
total-45,444
average-15,148

ulster 3
total-28,557
average-9,519

scarlets 3
total-28,533
average-9,511

ospreys 4
total-32,608
average-8,152

cardiff 4
total-31,209
average-7,802

dragons 4
total-22,125
average-5,531

connacht 3
total-13,756
average-4,585

edinburagh 4
total-15,424
average-3,856

glasgow 3
total-11,307
average-3,769

treviso 4
total-15,000
average-3,750

zebre 2
total-4,525
average-2,262

salmson wrote:

RonanL wrote: I've seen the exact figure for number of people in attendance at the Quins game, and it's far less than what they've reported. Still, the numbers last year were probably fudged too, so we're still on the increase.

You'll probably get shot if you tell us the real figure, so let me ask you another question - dis they just count unused season tickets, or are thereother fudges - sponsor tickets, promotional freebies and so on?

Honestly, I don't know how they arrive at the figure they publish. I know for Rabo games, it's standard practice to include all tickets sold, including season tickets, but I don't know if that what they do for the Heineken Cup . The figure I saw was the figure generated by the system they use to scan tickets as people come through the turnstiles. I suppose it's not that big a deal - we all know that the numbers going to games has gone up in the last couple of years, which is great news. The marketing people like to be able to talk about sell outs, and record attendances, because it makes people feel like they are part of something special.

RonanL wrote: I've seen the exact figure for number of people in attendance at the Quins game, and it's far less than what they've reported. Still, the numbers last year were probably fudged too, so we're still on the increase.

You'll probably get shot if you tell us the real figure, so let me ask you another question - dis they just count unused season tickets, or are thereother fudges - sponsor tickets, promotional freebies and so on?

swift4prez wrote: 2,779 more came for harlequins this season over last

I've seen the exact figure for number of people in attendance at the Quins game, and it's far less than what they've reported. Still, the numbers last year were probably fudged too, so we're still on the increase.

gates numbers 2011-12 vs 2012-13=difference

dragons 3706........
ulster 5017.........
leinster 6582.......5813==down 769
ospreys 4107........
munster 7022........
scarlets 3408.......4074==up 666
glasgow 4189........
treviso 3614........
zebre (A) 5216......
edinburgh 4324......
cardiff 3996........3869==down 127

2011-12 total 51,181 average 4,653
2012-13 so far 13,756 average 4,585

heineken cup 2011-12
toulouse (tier 1)..... 9120
gloucester (tier 3).... 5115
harlequins (tier 2)... 5420

total 19,655 average 6,552


heineken cup 2012-2013
biarritz (tier 1)
harlequins (tier 2) .... 8,199
zebre (tier 4)

2,779 more came for harlequins this season over last, saying that will be interesting seeing how many show up for biarritz, toulouse were a much bigger draw plus it was our first ever heineken cup home match. all in all very happy with 8,199

leinster 3
total-79,798
average-26,599

munster 2
total-30,706
average-15,353

ulster 3
total-28,557
average-9,519

scarlets 3
total-28,533
average-9,511

ospreys 3
total-24,377
average-8,125

cardiff 4
total-31,209
average-7,802

dragons 3
total-17,068
average-5,689

connacht 3
total-13,756
average-4,585

treviso 3
total-12,000
average-4,000

edinburagh 3
total-11,670
average-3,890

glasgow 3
total-11,307
average-3,769

zebre 2
total-4,525
average-2,262

treviso 3
total-12,000
average-4,000

zebre 1
total-2,025
average-2,025

glasgow 3
total-11,307
average-3,769

edinburagh 2
total-7,591
average-3,795

cardiff 3
total-23,767
average-7,922

ospreys 3
total-24,377
average-8,125

dragons 3
total-17,068
average-5,689

scarlets 2
total-20,670
average-10,335

leinster 2
total-33,518
average-16,759

munster 2
total-30,706
average-15,353

ulster 2
total-18,505
average-9,252

connacht 3
total-13,756
average-4,585

Id like to see a few b&bs and guesthouses come on board and give some decent rates.

Its very expensive to stay over night in Galway and if a few places have a discount to supporters it might encourage a few more to come.

I have a 3hr round trip and theres an odd night that id love to stay up and have a pint or two, its not possible with some of the prices being charged.

It might be an idea to link a few Rugby friendly places and maybe they could give a small percentage back to the clan.

ummm, wrote: There seemed to be quite a few Scarlets fans at the game, which is great to see. While we have decent ST holder numbers we really should push Galway as an away venue as well. We all know what a great night you can have in Galway and visiting fans would be pleasantly surprised if they've never been here before.

A sizeable amount of away fans will also serve to enliven the atmosphere at the matches.

yes i agree with you ummm, thats up to us and the clan to have a package etc together and for us to write on the main page of this forum about, pubs, places to eat, hidden secrets of galway etc.
i helped out a young family from scarlets last weekend through mail and they seemed to have loved it.
got to say the scarlets fans made a good bit of noise saturday, in fairness most of us were in shock and i nearly left very early on

treviso 2
total-8,500
average-4,250

zebre 1
total-2,025
average-2,025

glasgow 1
total-4,348
average-4,348

edinburagh 2
total-7,591
average-3,795

cardiff 1
total-7,412
average-7,412

ospreys 2
total-15,725
average-7,862

dragons 2
total-11,871
average-5,935

scarlets 1
total-6,559
average-6,559

leinster 1
total-15,724
average-15,724

munster 1
total-15,642
average-15,642

ulster 2
total-18,505
average-9,252

There seemed to be quite a few Scarlets fans at the game, which is great to see. While we have decent ST holder numbers we really should push Galway as an away venue as well. We all know what a great night you can have in Galway and visiting fans would be pleasantly surprised if they've never been here before.

A sizeable amount of away fans will also serve to enliven the atmosphere at the matches.