South African Crowd Limits

[mdaclarke]

Are they still limited to 2,000? When are they projected to go up to 50%, 75% and 100%?

 

[saulan]

So far from what I've seen, no additional communication on it, apart from coaches calling it out. For most of these stadiums we are sitting at 3-4% allowed capacity with the 2k limit.

 

[unrated]

There were talks that the Government was going to announce a scrap on the limit by Wednesday the 15 th of Feb. In retrospect, because we can now verify that this did not happen, we can be wary of the rumours.

With that said, there are more rumours about this (difficult to verify) but some of these rumours should be correct as our government is **** at keeping secrets, they can't even hide corruption.

The next thing I hear in office circles is that the state of disaster will be extended by one month. And with that, the stadium limits for another month will follow. Presumably, after that government has less control over restricting these events.

SARU has sold its seats for the Springbok test matches including the ones against Wales for the inbound tour at full capacity.

 

[Eleutherarch]

More fodder for Malema.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Are they still limited to 2,000? When are they projected to go up to 50%, 75% and 100%?

I'm not saying anything that hasn't been said above but like you can gather, we simply can't say when the restriction are likely to be lifted. There is a clamor however for government to do so. Generally the ANC as a populist party does react to noise rather than any set of guiding principles so I hope we can expect them to remain true to form and listen to the noise people are making ITO attendance at sporting events.

 

[johandutoit04]

Morning - does anyone know any decent streaming sites - i found cricfree - but no sound

 

[mdaclarke]

I'm not saying anything that hasn't been said above but like you can gather, we simply can't say when the restriction are likely to be lifted. There is a clamor however for government to do so. Generally the ANC as a populist party does react to noise rather than any set of guiding principles so I hope we can expect them to remain true to form and listen to the noise people are making ITO attendance at sporting events.

I see it is also impacting on the South African Premier Division, I would have thought the ANC would want to keep all the Soccer fans onside.

I am surprised that the Rugby and Soccer fans/organisers haven't got together to make a joint pitch to increase capacity limits

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

I see it is also impacting on the South African Premier Division, I would have thought the ANC would want to keep all the Soccer fans onside.

I am surprised that the Rugby and Soccer fans/organisers haven't got together to make a joint pitch to increase capacity limits

Ja, you see a lot of talk in the media from coaches / organizers but nothing joint or formal from what I gather.

From a race perspective- speaking to that old adage of soccer being a 'black sport' and rugby a 'whites sport' I think the number both in terms of players and fans speak to that we are past that mark. Maybe not in terms of %s but certainly ITO actual numbers. Don't know that we would ever get actual "representative" %s but I also don't think that is seen as an actuall issue by anyone other than a handful of politicians looking to get easy hits on their scoials.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

I've said I think NZ are making a tougher winter for themselves by restricting sports crowds during summer and autumn months. I'd say the same of SA. If I was head honcho and have offered a vaccine to everyone I'd be actively encouraging outdoor crowds as a means of getting some level of natural immunity developed prior to winter coming. There isnt a SH nation at the moment with Covid stats concerning enough to merit shutting up shop like this.

The decisions in NZ and SA will be taken with the best of intentions but are far too cautious in my opinion. And I say that as someone who is massively respectful of the damage Covid can do and who has now spent over 2 years not socialising outside of a bubble.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

So just now Pres Ramaphosa announced we can have 50% capacity for outdoor sports venues- allowing for proof of vaccination. A half-packed CT stadium will look a lot better than one seating only 2000. Probably a bit short notice for the Ulster game though.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

So just now Pres Ramaphosa announced we can have 50% capacity for outdoor sports venues- allowing for proof of vaccination. A half-packed CT stadium will look a lot better than one seating only 2000. Probably a bit short notice for the Ulster game though.

Good (from both a sport and health viewpoint in my opinion). We'll be able to see what level of enthusiasm there is among fans for the URC and rugby in general after the long pandemic absence. Fingers crossed, but my ill informed sense is SA fans are more excited by the Champions Cup than the URC, which I think is a shame.

 

[unrated]

Good (from both a sport and health viewpoint in my opinion). We'll be able to see what level of enthusiasm there is among fans for the URC and rugby in general after the long pandemic absence. Fingers crossed, but my ill informed sense is SA fans are more excited by the Champions Cup than the URC, which I think is a shame.

The Champions Cup is appealing, for me mostly from an economic point of view and the need for a larger squad due to overlapping games and this means more youngsters will be given chances while being able to financially keep them. That's exciting. But the URC is the means to that and while I can only speak for myself, I am very interested. We got a shock when our teams lost in the North and when we go back and how we adapt to the lessons learned will be very interesting.

The ***le race is starting to heat up now that the SA leg is levelling the playing field. Munster left South Africa without a win, so come on Ulster!

It did not mean nothing to me if the Sharks made the Super rugby final and lost and if we only make a final with Leinster and Lose then thats not good enough, thats the stuff that builds the interest longer term.

Did someone have a look at the points difference of the top 8 sides in the competition vs the bottom 8?

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

I'm with @unrated . Very interested and excited about the URC, then there was a couple of.. setbacks to my enthusiasm- our poor results abroad exacerbated by what I saw as some very shoddy refereeing displays and then the postponed games here in SA where I felt SA was unfairly treated for identifying a new strain not even originating here.

I think the good results in SA has done a brilliant job for SA fans putting the initial setback behind us and I know I'm not just speaking for myself here.

This weekend I don't think we can judge the crowds just yet though - very short notice and Easter weekend where I believe a lot of people who would have otherwise considered attending will have already made plans for the weekend, most probably out of town and here I include myself.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

I really hope this works and I think it's a wise move as a nation moves out of Covid restrictions and is introduced to a new tournament. Efforts must be made to make attending a rugby match feel normal again and this sort of initiative can only increase the chances of it.

United Rugby Championship: Bulls slash ticket prices for Ulster clash

The Bulls have dramatically dropped their ticket prices as they make an attempt for the record match attendance in the United Rugby Championship.

www.planetrugby.com

The reason for my attendance pessimism was more that Aus and SA attendance really seemed to fall sharply in the last couple of seasons of Super Rugby. Possibly partly due to complete NZ dominance as well as other factors. Lost crowds don't always bounce back, particularly with lower birth rates, less kids and those kids there are being glued to screens.

 

[WP-stormer]

It's not rocket science why u don't get big crowds as SA games,firstly there's just way to much sport to be missed whilst at a game,secondly most people prefer to be at home with a a braai and friends with the games in telly,hence the reason SA tv rights are worth so much