The European Champions Cup semi-finals are expected to be watched by the smallest combined audience for 15 years. A total of 36,000 tickets have been sold for the fixtures in Nottingham and Reading, around 90,000 fewer than at the same stage seven years ago.
Tournament organisers say 19,500 tickets have been sold for Leicester’s game against Racing 92 at the City Ground in Nottingham, with Saracens and Wasps likely to attract a crowd of around 16,500 at the Madejski Stadium. A paltry attendance of 8,050 witnessed Saracens’ home quarter-final against Northampton at Allianz Park.
Neither Saracens nor Racing have large followings but comparisons with previous seasons still make uneasy reading. The last time Leicester played a semi-final at the City Ground in 2002 they attracted a crowd of 29,849 and the aggregate attendance for last season’s semi-finals in St Étienne and Marseille was almost 77,000.
The absence of the well-supported Irish sides Munster, Leinster and Ulster is one factor in the decline but there have been recurrent issues with knockout attendances involving Saracens as the home side. In both 2013 and 2014 their semi-finals at Twickenham were played in a stadium two-thirds empty, in contrast to last season’s vibrant occasion at St Étienne’s Stade Geoffroy Guichard when Clermont Auvergne’s “yellow army” turned up en masse.
It remains possible that next month’s final in Lyon will be an all-English affair but organisers are predicting the attendance will definitely exceed 50,000 and may be close to the stadium’s capacity of 59,000. Even with nearby Leicester involved and Dan Carter featuring for Racing, the 30,000-capacity City Ground will be only two-thirds full. Last weekend, by way of comparison, a record 26,500 fans turned up for Spain’s Copa del Rey domestic rugby final.
Regardless of the atmosphere the two matches should not lack for excitement, with Saracens hoping to maintain their unbeaten record in this season’s tournament. No champion side have lifted the trophy having won all their pool games but Saracens are featuring in their fifth semi-final in seven years and have the vast majority of their England contingent fit and available. The contest between the respective No8s, Billy Vunipola and Nathan Hughes, will be particularly fierce, with George Smith also aiming to propel Wasps into a third final following their victories in 2004 and 2007.
Smith is heading to Japan this summer and has ruled out assisting Eddie Jones and England on their tour to Australia, having done some specialist breakdown coaching during the Six Nations. “They’ll take my passport off me if I do that,” the former Australia flanker said, jokingly. He will instead be visiting his family during England’s three-Test trip. The 35-year-old starts in a Wasps pack also containing Bradley Davies and Lorenzo Cittadini in the absence of the injured Kearnan Myall and Jake Cooper-Woolley.
Jones has advised ambitious English coaches to further their experience overseas if they wish to broaden their outlooks. “I think it is really important English coaches do it. The Premiership here has been very strong but it is quite insular and they need to get English coaches to coach overseas,” Jones told BBC Radio 5 Live.
The semi-final lineup bears him out with a Welshman in Dai Young, the former Ireland international Mark McCall and the former All Black Aaron Mauger playing central roles at Wasps, Saracens and Leicester respectively.
Racing, marginal favourites to meet Saracens in the final, also employ the former Munster and Ireland fly-half Ronan O’Gara on their coaching staff.
O’Gara has been particularly impressed with Mauger’s impact on Leicester’s attacking game and is wary of the threats posed by the English side. “It’s not as if they’re playing Baa-Baas rugby … they have threats everywhere, they’re dangerous and they also have a strong set piece. They’ve taken their game at least 60% forward since they played Munster in December.”
As for Carter, O’Gara is hopeful the World Cup winner can help propel Racing to their first European final. “There’s Messi and Ronaldo in the soccer world and then there’s Carter in the rugby world. When you have a fellow that good it’s very hard to compare him to anybody. He gives us massive presence, leadership and control. Saying that, you wouldn’t like to think the whole team is based on one pair of shoulders. He has extraordinary quality but hopefully the team will fire as well.”
