Rugby:Declan Kidney insists the Ireland team is aware of its responsibility to supporters in response to the ticketing fiasco threatening Saturday's clash with South Africa at the Aviva Stadium (kick-off 5.30pm).
Rows of empty seats could greet the national side’s debut at the redeveloped stadium as the high price of tickets issued to clubs has resulted in reduced demand.
The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) last night conceded they had made an error in their ticketing strategy, which consists of two-game deals with New Zealand/Samoa costing €190 and South Africa/Argentina €150.
With many tickets still unsold - no figure has been given - the IRFU face the embarrassment of seeing the Aviva Stadium fail to reach capacity in the first Test since its multi-million euro refit.
Head coach Kidney admits that while his priority is to prepare the team to face South Africa, he understands the difficulties posed by the bleak economic climate.
“Hands have been held up to say errors were made but these things happen in life,” said Kidney. “We’re concentrating on the match and regardless of whether we have one person or 100,000 watching it, our job is the same.
“We have to represent Ireland as best we can and hopefully as many people as possible will watch us.
“Coming from Cork myself I know the things involved in travelling from the corners to watch Ireland and that’s why I’ll never take the support we get for granted.
“Times are different now and that puts more onus on us to represent the jersey properly. That’s our job and if we deviate from focusing on the world champions then we’ll let down the jersey and we don’t want to do that.”
Captain Brian O’Driscoll stressed the importance of Ireland performing in front of a sold-out arena.
“People read papers and are aware of what’s going on but that’s for the union to deal with. It’s not a player issue,” said O’Driscoll.
“The players want to be playing in front of as many people as possible. We want to be supported by packed houses because that’s what you get your buzz from.
“The best occasions are when the capacity is at its maximum and the crowd is at its most vocal. That can be worth a score to you at vital times.”