The marquee meeting of the Crusaders and Brumbies in Super Rugby Pacific at 9.45pm tonight may be a test of the popularity and durability of the tournament as much as the respective strength of two potential champions.
The match in Canberra will be the first in 13 weeks of the regular season to compel the attention of fans on both sides of the Tasman.
The AP reports that derby matches in the first half of the season mostly failed to create interest beyond domestic audiences in Australia and New Zealand. In New Zealand live attendances and television audiences haven’t yet bounced back to levels from before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Until the ninth-round match in Christchurch between the Crusaders and Auckland-based Blues, television audiences for prime-time matches in New Zealand this season averaged around 100,000 — roughly half of the 2019 audience for games in prime time.
Attendances and television audiences have been higher in Australia, peaking for matches between the Brumbies and Queensland Reds in weeks five and seven. Still, there are signs in both countries that Super Rugby doesn’t attract fans as it once did.
Crusaders head coach Scott Robertson has also suggested New Zealand teams are weaker for the loss of South African opposition.
The Brumbies have lost only once this season, while the Crusaders have lost three times in an unusually poor year. But injuries to powerful backrower Rob Valetini and flyhalf Noah Lolesio are setbacks for the Brumbies.
[Source: AP]
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