So, Super Rugby ventured into Singapore for the first time on Saturday, and what a night it was. A great game and a great atmosphere.
It was the first time we’ve taken the kids (six and four) to a live match, and I thought it worth reflecting a bit on the whole game-day experience. It all started off very badly for me when my daughter’s friend’s fifth birthday party ran over.
My tightly packed schedule was at risk. Beer and snack service is notoriously slow at the Singapore stadium, so you’ve got to get in early to get stocked up before kick-off – and we were a family of four keen for a couple of cold ones and a hot-dog.
Luckily disaster was averted when traffic treated us kindly enough to get there in time to get snacked-up and seated in time for kick-off.
The atmosphere was fantastic, even with a pretty small crowd of just over 8,000. Singapore stadium is a great venue, aside from the beer queues – and I’ll leave judgment on the playing surface.
It’s a unique venue with a closed roof, but the western end of the stadium is open to the elements, so we were treated to a beautiful view of sunset over the city at kick-off. While not quite the Millennium Stadium, with the roof closed even a relatively small crowd can still make a hell of a noise. And a hell of a noise we made.
The crowd was a great mix of expats (I guess 70%) and locals (30%), and we sat next to a group of young Singaporeans, behind two Indian families and in front of an elderly Malay couple.
Then there was the old Welsh guy a few rows down giving out some “Oggy, Oggy, Oggy” chants to rev the crowd up. Multi-cultural Singapore at its finest, and I can’t imagine a more diverse crowd has ever watched a Super Rugby match.
There were large groups of rugby club-mates, leading song choruses and chants and cheers. One group of 30-or-so were all decked out with matching Pat Cash / Karate Kid-style bandanas. I think they were going for the Samurai look, but it looked more Kamikaze to me (which was probably more appropriate given the amount they were drinking). And therein is probably my biggest gripe. Not the big groups of club boys, who are always great value at matches, but the large absence of the silent majority.
Generally speaking, most of the folks there were either Super Rugby (i.e. Japanese/Antipodean/Saffer) fans and/or rugby club members. But what about the rest of the rugby fraternity? Outside of that small minority of rugby fans lies a massive, un-tapped rugby supporter base here in Singapore, who were largely unaware of the match.
Let’s face it, most rugby fans aren’t club members, and there’s a global cast of thousands upon thousands of rugby fans here that would love to watch some high glass live rugby. Ads for the upcoming Sevens are everywhere – is this the best year ever for rugby in Singapore? – but I can’t recall seeing or hearing a word locally about the Sunwolves matches.
I’m not normally one for stadium merchandising, but thought it was a real shame there wasn’t any at the ground (or if there was, it was kept well hidden). For once I would definitely have invested in the ‘local’ team and snapped up a couple of Sunwolves tees for the kids, especially as they surely must be able to do some pretty cool designs with that wolf logo.
If the intention is to continue building this presence in Singapore for a number of years to come, then small things like that really matter. With a better marketing approach locally they could really start to not just pull in the crowds, but really build the brand here in Singapore.
As for the game, how much fun are the Sunwolves to watch? Full of adventure, play fast, direct and creative rugby. Their defensive structures seemed to let them down though, with a couple of fatal gaps in their defensive line letting Cheetah’s runners through un-touched for at least two of their tries.
That, and their already impressive attack, will only improve with more time together, and I imagine that if they’d had a decent pre-season together they’d have walked this game. On this form I fully expect them to be having a fair crack at finals rugby within a season or two, and hope they’re still paying here in Singapore to support them through it.
I think the entire crowd was backing the Sunwolves. There can’t have been more than two or three Cheetahs fans. It took a while for everyone to warm up, but by the end everyone was on their feet, stamping and howling at the Sunwolves as they pushed for the win in the last minute or so.
So much more fun than shouting or cheering, it all got quite primal for a minute or two there! What a great way to end the game, and a real shame we couldn’t get the points that would have given us a well deserved win.
It was a great evening all round for the family, and we all had our moments? For my daughter (4) it was being allowed to stand on her chair and howl like a wolf, with thousands of others.
My son loved the big hits, and there was one in particular when a beefy Cheetah nailed the Sunwolves scrummy – “whoa, Daddy, it’s like a pig tackling a chicken!” I haven’t seen him laugh that much since the bathroom exploded in the Paddington movie.
My wife’s favourite moment was probably getting served after queuing 40 minutes for round two of beers and hot-dogs at half time (and half the second half). I had two favourites. 1) Pisi’s cross-field kick for their second try, and 2) my kids asking when were coming again for the next match – after years of gentle persuasion I think they’ve finally been bitten by the bug!
So to wrap up, I’ve probably whinged my way through this write-up a whole lot more than I intended to, but that’s because I see massive potential to build some solid support for the Sunwolves here in Singapore, and nowhere near enough being done to maximise on it.
There’s a big, appreciative rugby audience here in Singapore, willing to throw their allegiance behind a local Super team and watch some high-class games in this sport we love.
They’ve just got to do more to get people to the games. As a long-term resident of this fantastic little country, I’d love to be going to a packed-out stadium for years to come, to support our local team playing high-class rugby against some of the best clubs in the world.
Is that selfish? Absolutely! Is that too much to ask? I hope not.
RobC
Roar Guru
Gday Simon. Congrats on your first post. Its a beaut! Had to travel for a family thingy, so couldnt attend last week. So look out for the dude wearing a Reds jersey in the next one vs Bulls, yelling for no apparent reason.
Daveski
Guest
Great to hear your experience Simon. Hopefully crowds can build for the remaining two games and importantly new fans are created be they locals or expats.
tc
Guest
Good read Simon Maybe if that dude who was going to set up the Dragons in Singapore would do some promotion work over the next five years they might get the fan base up to 15 maybe 20 thousand, then he would have a strong case for inclusion come 2021.
DaniE
Roar Guru
But I still think they can do better (if only they could hire my marketing agency...) ;)
GWSingapore
Guest
Super Rugby like NRL is shown in Singapore on Setanta Sports. This is a niche premium pay channel that is an extra US $30 per month. Consequently, the channel does not have the exposure of free-to-air or even basic pay television. Aside from a few expat bars and rugby fans like myself there is no compelling reason for anyone else to bother with a subscription. That is a big challenge for rugby in getting exposure in this market. That said, you can add Japanese expats to your list. There were heaps there and in great spirits. The stadium is the equal of any in the world for comfort, facilities and transport. I am looking forward to the Blue Bulls in two weeks.
Simon in Singapore
Roar Rookie
Great to hear FR. Same again on the 26th for the Bulls?
Ryanno
Guest
That's great DaniE, that seems like the most sensible approach.
DaniE
Roar Guru
Ryanno, most of the marketing I've seen is by the Singapore Sports Hub, so yes the Stadium.
Ryanno
Guest
Interesting discussion re. who should promote the event. It always surprises me that the Stadiums themselves don't actively promote events. They have a heck of lot to lose or gain based on the size of the crowd. I would think the stadium in Singapore would be better resourced and connected within Singapore to promote the match. Maybe they did and 8k crowd is better than they expected.
mtiger
Roar Rookie
Argh, if you want to cut the distance, you might as well play it out of Kuala Lumpur. Cheaper by far, cheap enough for at least 1/3rd of the 8000 to make the trip. But then again the Malaysian rugby union might be sleeping too.
kingplaymaker
Roar Guru
It's a very typical feature of SANZAR that they rarely promote anything, perhaps because in the amateur days there was no point to doing so.
Moz
Guest
Great write-up Simon! I was there with group of mates as well and had a ball. A lot of noise for such a small crowd, which means that it will only get better as more people come to the next game. Loved watching Ed Quirk go Berserk. And the howling!! We were still throwing in the old one once we adjourned to our local.
Bakkies
Guest
I thought Lynagh and Futzy were too hard on the Sunwolves in their analysis on Sky in regards to the Sunwolves being competitive. They've only played two matches with limited prep and look very competent despite their obvious limitations. Their Super Rugby season will build up when the weather is getting better in Japan.
Fairly Rucked
Roar Rookie
Size is always going to be a issue for a Japanese team, especially playing the SA teams. Part of the problem was when Ed Quirk was carded at the end, it left their main heavy lifter in the ruck and mauls missing. He did have a issue at the Reds giving away a few to may penalties so not surprised. So yes an extra 2nd row or more aggressive 6 or 7 would definitely help spread the load out. At the ruck and mauls as well as the lineout as you pointed out. Still predicting a win over the Reds and the Kings. The rest may be a little too far this season....
Mexicano
Guest
So they got 8,000 to rock up out of a 55,000 capacity ground and these were mainly expats from Oz, UK, NZ and SA. Makes the GWS Giants look pretty good. What were the tv ratings within Singapore like?
Bakkies
Guest
They are going to have to recruit a big lock to shore up their lineout playing majority of their games against SA teams. I'm sure the likes of Andries Bekker are still running around in Japan.
Bakkies
Guest
Their needs to be Sunwolves promotions at the 7s. Murrayfield has ads on the side boards promoting the Pro 12 Final at the 6 Nations home matches.
Lostintokyo
Guest
Thanks SimonIS. Excellent report, keep 'em coming I was surprised there were 8,000 which is a good first up start. As far as the lack of promotion of the game and TShirts etc, I guess it comes back to who is responsible for this role? SANZAAR would not have a clue how to do it, probably get lost in Changi Airport. JRFU struggle to promote the game in Tokyo, so Singapore would be a step too far. Are rugby authorities in Singapore and Malaysia charged with this task? Probably not. It may be a hot potato? Believe the main reason for selecting Singapore as a venue was to cut travel distances for the SA teams. Already a big issue, SANZAAR made a preemptive strike with Singapore's home games inclusion to cut the groan factor. Only the Lions tour Japan this year. That and Singapore made a good Super Rugby inclusion bid and deserved something. It would be great if some local talent, even a few players, could make the squad. It certainly offers incentive for the future. Do you know of any local players Simon who could cut it?
Fairly Rucked
Roar Rookie
Yes you could see the last 15 minutes cost them. Combination of match fitness (or lack there of) and lack of quality bench I think.
Fairly Rucked
Roar Rookie
Simon, Very similar experience except the traffic was not as forgiving (or maybe I didn't leave home in time). We arrived just in time to see the replay of the 1st try on the big screen, but not in time to make a wait in line for a beer worth while. Last year we were there for a soccer game and they ran out of beer at 1/2 time.... My boys 5 and 6, also their first live game of rugby, loved it and want to go again. Very happy dad I can tell you. The atmosphere for only 8000 people was surprisingly good, the roof reflects the noise well and the wolf howl from the crowd was fun and infectious. If only they had won I am sure the crowd would swell (quicker) for the next game. Although I am sure more will come next time. Everybody I talked to had a similar experience and will go again. I do not understand why they have not got a better marketing plan in place. There was nothing promoting the game that I have seen. My boys wanted to buy hats or something after the game but had to settle for programs as nothing else on offer... Given the way the Sunwolves are playing I am sure they will get more and more people coming along. Love It.