Motormouth O'Neill blames the Kiwis
Wed, 16 Jul 2008 10:03
Tickets to a rugby match between Australia and New Zealand used to sell out within days, or even hours, of going on the market.
This year, there are 10,000 seats left a week before the Tri-Nations/Bledisloe Cup double header at Sydney's ANZ Stadium, and officials are scrambling to explain the sudden case of apathy from among the sport's usually rabid fans.
The outspoken Australian Rugby Union (ARU) Chief Executive John O'Neill has found a readymade scapegoat - New Zealand.
For more than a decade, Sydney Bledisloe Cup/Tri-Nations Tests were played before full houses, but the July 26 match between the Wallabies and All Blacks is still far from a sellout.
While crowds at Test matches at the former Olympic stadium in western Sydney have been down generally over the past five years, ARU officials thought the Bledisloe Cup match between two of the sport's powerhouses would stop the slide.
O'Neill said there were many factors, but - not surprisingly - blamed his neighbours across the Tasman Sea.
Motormouth O'Neill, as he has been labelled across the Tasman Sea for his regular thoughtless outbursts, said New Zealanders had shown only scant interest in the Sydney Test, and that between 3,000 and 6,000 tickets allocated to Kiwi tour groups for Sydney Tests had been sent back to the ARU.
"It is the first time the Bledisloe Cup has been in Sydney since 2005, and this is certainly a new phenomenon," O'Neill said in Wednesday's Sydney Morning Herald.
"Every other Bledisloe Cup match here has been sold out well in advance."
There are four Bledisloe Cup matches scheduled this year - there were only two, both held during the Tri-Nations, last season.
O'Neill said he was uncertain whether the backlash in New Zealand over Kiwi Robbie Deans being appointed by the Wallabies, rather than taking over from Graham Henry as the All Blacks coach, was a factor.
He believes it has more to do with New Zealand fans instead saving up to go to the historic Bledisloe Cup match being played in Hong Kong on November 1.
O'Neill said many Australian supporters were also conserving funds for the Hong Kong Test, to the extent they would not buy tickets for home Tests or the return game in New Zealand next month.
"We've noticed that," he said. "We don't have as many going to Auckland for the Bledisloe Cup there. And it's because the appetite is to go to Hong Kong instead. There's something obviously unique about the Hong Kong Test, and a lot of travelers have experienced the Hong Kong Sevens experience."
Rugby officials also believe the novelty of the former Olympic stadium has worn off.
They believe there is an increasing number of rugby followers who do not want to attend Tests at Homebush Bay because of the lengthy travel from the eastern suburbs, lack of entertainment facilities and transport and parking difficulties.
SAPA
