After reading all the comments, the biggest point everyone is forgetting when it comes fan numbers attending Super Rugby games is the cost for the individual or family to attend these games at these ridicules huge overpriced stadiums in the city centres. The Cost of a ticket, travel, drinks, including merchandise, if you have kids must have the latest gear, is now beyond most people in this country unless you are privileged to be there on corporate plastic. The Super franhise administrator’s main focus is on the corporate boxes for themselves and their corporate mates which you can only get at a big stadium, too bad for anyone else sitting in cattle class with no atmosphere of 15k people in a 40k stadium. When I had the corporate experience it was great, but now that I am retired I can’t afford the outrageous cost and time, why, when I can stream every game whenever I want to at my own leasure for $20 a month, never going to be as good, but the live game experience is dead under current arrangements, which is what TV want. If you take the big TV Money you are going to lose your fans to the TV, at the same time pricing the same target market out of attending,????? you can’t have your cake and eat to. That is if you actually care about the dirty unwashed fans as Cicero would put it referring to the gladiator games in ancient Rome. Now I go to premier grade club games, be with a bunch mates, with good comraderie and tribalism at a fraction of the cost and still get watch SP later on.
PS to Rugby League obsessed contributors, could you please stick to your code site and not make uneducated and dumb comments on this site as it distracts and takes the conversation off the narrative of the article. Sorry if I have used too many big words for you, google can help you.

Totally agree with your article, both France and Ireland have done that and yes it took a decade or so and look where they are now, in Ireland’s case was by an Australian, David Nucifora, rejected an ousted by self interested player power and club rugby toffs, same with the best coach in Ewen Mackenzie, we have been spiralling downwards ever since. It is not coaches that is entirely the problem it is the poor quality of players, pathways and player development that is the underlying issue.
Schools Rugby competing with Club rugby is a classic example, therefore a majority of juniors quit the game at the age 15 and over.
Stop spending huge amounts of money 2nd or 3rd sport spectators and reward and focus on the real, dedicated die-hard rugby supporters as the article says rugby has always been a niche sport in Australia and cannot be anything else. We were this till the 2000s and since the lead up to the 2003 World Cup in Australia the NSW dominated ARU with chips on thier shoulders because big brothers Rugby League and AFL get more media attention.
The dwindling numbers of fans at Super Rugby level is the effect turning the real rugby supporter away in favour of chasing the masses.
Stay focused and niche to just ???? Rugby and expand the game from the grassroots.

Thanks again James,
Old rugby tragics like me love these articles…..please keep them coming.

Busted, totally agree with you. I played with Taito Rauluni in the late seventies and he could pass a magnificent long ball and find his support player under any conditions, whether, being belted, off balance, upside down, whatever, particularly when the scrum or ruck was going backwards. Ian Prior (now captain of the Weston Force) was the last halfback I saw be able to do this, but because be could do this he never ran enough and was never looked at beyond Australia Under 21. When I first saw Will Genia at the Reds he too pasted from the baseline with great effect during the 2011 successful Super Premiership, but was coached out of him at Wallaby level. Ian Prior was his under study at the Reds during that time.

was amazing, incredible freindly well organised and we were treated to some amazing rugby. My hat goes off to the T2 nations for making this WC so competitive and interesting.
Cheika Has gone, but he not have had the ability to demeand the Wallaby Jumper if were not for the support of the ARU Board and Executive. THEY MUST GO TO.
My only concern here is that they also need to take responsibility for putting our game in Australia under threat with their handling of the Israel Folau affair. If they bale out now another group of people will wear the brunt of the litigation and scandal that is to come from these abosolute nincompoops.
Still love the game and we will return to glory again in the next four years, so Israel, give it to those idiots so we can do a complete clean out and restructure the game in Australia where the game comes first from the grass roots up instead top heavy managment.
Love you all

Well I am on my home from Japan with some time to kill in Singapore to post this comment. For those passionionate rugby fans back in Australia is that I am feeling your pain as well. The sad part is that our campaign went as was predicted by thousands of rubgy fans on this site alone, anyone who has been in the game even fo a short amount of time could see what was going to happen, as for those like myself who have put a lifetime back into the game the frustration is enormous. I even held out hope that Cheika had something up his sleve for the matches that counted, but no, the same crap game plan from 2015 and the bum buddies that gotthe people hat didnt and had their head in the sand was our own Rugby Aministrators however my consulation is that I got to experience the most wonderful world put on by a remarkable contry and its people. The support by the Japanese no matter who

That’s only because Hooper had a shocker….couldn’t get his emotions under controll after the Kereve incident, shows lack of mental leadership and never an interllectual Captain anyway.
Pocock, no better, always mouthing and whinging in the referees ear, therefore impotent when a real dicscussion is required, the refs get sick of hearing from him and has a reputation of a cry victim mentalitiy.
We need a Captain with rugby credibility not ” off-field Media, Promotional or Social Credibility”, particulary on the world stage where not everyone agrees with those off field creds.

As I have said in numerous conversations in the past, we have the players, we are just picking the wrong players, unfortuneately some of those were left behind for Chieka’s “mates”.
The Pooper has to go – Pocock gives away penalties, because he is a one trick pony and the referees have finally worked out that the one trick is illegall in todays’ game.
Both have to play only in the 7 position if at all given both their sizes.
Rest of the forward with Lotu-solouko (or whatever) I am happy with given the squad selected. My previous apprehension of Latu have been quelled, playing brialliantly around the field, srummaging still abit sus.
Backline should be:
9 White
10 CLL
12 Toomua
13 O’Conner
14 Korbeeti
11 Banks or Petaia
15 DHP
A good balanced team with experience and youth, but importantly combinations that will work with each other.
Looking forwrd to Japan in a couple of days time.

Whether the Welsh 9 was offside or not, during the match I sent a text to a rugby mate in Darwin that, and I qoute “Genia’s passing is so slow that the Welsh are in our backline waiting for it, when he gets the ball he does a little jig to et the ball where he wants n his hands, gets upright takes a half step, sideways or backwards and then lets the ball goes. Any coach worth his salt can see this, which is why our PC correct Fox commentators can’t and obviously our coach. all good halfbacks catch and release instantaniously whilst he is any position or height. Knowing when to run and when not takes mind power and as good a player as I have rated Will in the past and he used be capable, but I fear the year of bad coaching have tken it out of him.
Still be a good finisher for the Wallabies.

Obviously, most other rugby followers agree with you, SO why are you the Australian Rugby coach. You need to go to League where this type of controversay is the norm.

Boomeranger, don’t know what level you played at, if you have at all, but you very raely see players doing it Union unless they come from a League background, because it has ALWAYS BEEN ILLEGAL. Maybe you have been watching to much League, it is a totaly different game.

height has been dangerous and penalised by referees for as long as have known going back to when I played learnt the game in the mid seventies. Any player bought up in Union does not do it, Leagueies, yes, which tells you of Kereve’s earlier background and very lacking of his Union coaches to not advise and change his method nor the PC correct commentators for ignoring it.
We have the talent in this country, but the Wallabies and geuine rugby fans are in for more controversay and hardache for the remainder of the tournament. Like our reputation a decade ago with a reputation for a joke of a scrum, we now have a reputation as bleeding heart, bed wetting, cry victim whingers.
I am off to Japan on Thursday and looking forward to some magnificent rugby, hopefully ours players despite thier coach can paly some real rugby and a league style of Union our juniors are bought up on and be apart of this worderfulll spectacle of the Game of Rugby Union. 😡

Being an ex-player, coach, administrator and official, my biggest concern and empathies go ot to the players who have toiled their hearts out, some with their careers being destroyed by what all of the Australian rugby community has known for several years is that they were doomed for a farcial World Cup. I honestly believe we have the players to win this cup, even from the position we are currently in. Our problems are an inept Board and Executive that have no backbone, create such one sided moral/ethical rules in a professional highly competive and visial sport which cannot been practical. Second is a coach, like the aging one dimensional diva stage star, can’t admit she is not still a hot starlet and doesnt know when to quit. The bring in this coaches pharocialism to the players that got him his job under controversal circumstances. Can anyone name a top teir one test match that either Hooper, Foley or Beale any not on the paddock. If Foley doesnt play, Beale has to,or vice further and if Pocock is fit and ready play, both Pocock and Hooper. All instrumental in his appoinment, dues are owed no matter the consequences. The game has emormously in 4 years, just look at the progression of the Tier 2 nations, but our Rubgy Administrators and one Coach with too much power is still living in past glory.
All the controversay we have experienced so far in the world cup has been bought on by our administrators and coach. We whinge complain and attack others when things don’t go our way, just like Pocock throwing a fellow player under the bus during a game? Crying victim has become a way life in Australia now, not the tough, resiliant underdog that we used to have, still works, look at Japan.
At Hodges inquiry, our argument was that the ball carrier liftes his arm and deliberately barged into the defender contributing to his injury. Then when the biggest exponent of this method in the league style runner of Kereve gets cited for that same situation the Coach crys victim again. raising an elbow as a a ball runner at any