By the end the Aviva Stadium was feverish in roaring Ireland to an epic win over the world champions. It was the kind of passionate support which this Irish team and this match deserved. If only it could always be like that, and preferably from the off.
The IRFU have acknowledged that, after the soporific atmosphere at last season’s three home games in the Six Nations, they had a problem – further proof of which was one of their proposed “solutions”, namely the playing of piped music during breaks in play.
Even more so at the Ireland “A” game against an All Blacks XV, frankly, it was embarrassing. The jury is, at best, out on that one.
If they are going to play music before, during and after, would it not be preferable to at least play songs that might encourage supporters to join in? French journalists recall they’d never heard anything like it when 40,000 supporters joined in with the The Cranberries’ Zombie at the Munster-Toulouse game. Like The Fields, it’s become something of a rugby anthem. Given who sings it and its subject matter, the song also carries a huge resonance for Irish people.
The Irish crowd should be encouraged to call out the surnames of the Irish players, as is the case at the Stade de France. There was no booze sold inside the Stade de France last Friday; yet, helped by a group of Irish dancers performing beforehand, they created a carnival-like atmosphere.
Ireland-Fiji at 1pm probably won’t scale last Saturday’s heights, while Australia at 8pm will be interesting, and the England and France games should be feverish because of the opposition and the increased sense of jeopardy, but the Union needs to do more.
Not so long ago the atmosphere at the Emirates Stadium used to be subdued at best, or toxic at worst. Arsenal undertook a huge amount of research among their fanbase, and Mikel Arteta frequently underlined the importance of a connection with their support. It helps that they’re playing attractive and winning football, but the stadium has been transformed.
This stuff matters. That’s why Munster built what they built at Thomond Park. The Aviva should always be like last Saturday’s second-half for this Irish team, and perhaps the Irish coaches and players could also highlight this. Asking Paul O’Connell last Friday how important a role the crowd play, and he said they had a “massive role”, highlighting one moment in the All Blacks’ game a year ago when some defensive line speed by Caelan Doris and Andrew Porter forced a knock-on and the crowd roared.
To-ing and fro-ing from the bars is not an issue at Premier League matches. The polite requests for supporters to respect the enjoyment of watching a game by not constantly going back and forth to the bars appears to have had some relative success.
At any tennis tournament or at any cricket ground in the UK, people are not allowed leave or return to their seats until there is changeover or between overs
There’s loot in pints, and lads like pints, so the IRFU and their contracted caterers are not going to close them a la Croke Park, although that doesn’t inconvenience GAA fans, which perhaps tells its own tale.
A large part of the problem is slow bar service beforehand and at half-time – unless in the premium level, of course. Australian and American beer-dispensing technology is light years ahead of Ireland, and particularly the Aviva.
If the IRFU won’t restrict drinking during play to the concourse area, why not emulate other sports by stewards permitting people to only return to their seats during a break in play?
At any tennis tournament or at any cricket ground in the UK, people are not allowed leave or return to their seats until there is changeover or between overs. Would having beer sellers serve spectators in their seats not be possible as well?
Admittedly, in fairness to those who popped out from their seats last Saturday, the first half was over 56 minutes long. If you need a strong rib cage to play against the Springboks, you need an even stronger bladder watching them.
Why on earth there have to be water breaks in each half in addition to injury stoppages and video referrals is ridiculous. Of course, two additional stoppages and 57-minute halves with innumerable stoppages and less ball-in-play time suits some teams more than others, especially those with juggernaut packs and bomb squads on their bench.
The Virgin Media TV coverage seemed to run 10 minutes over scheduling.
[ Matt Williams: Time for Ireland fans to find their voice at the AvivaOpens in new window ]
Though akin to VAR referrals in football, rugby TMOs have an additional problem in that not only are those watching on TV better informed as to what is going on when decisions are being reviewed, but rugby itself is an altogether more complex game. Many supporters are already coming to the conclusion that they’re better informed watching a match on television at home, not least when it comes to the decisions of match officials. Those who do go will often say they look forward to watching the game on TV again in order to really understand what happened.
There is an obvious solution, namely, to make the in-stadium experience better by bringing elements of the TV coverage into the stadium. As in the NFL in the US, why can’t the ref and TMO microphones be wired into the Aviva’s sound system? It seems an obvious solution and would keep the supporters much more engaged during those breaks in play than a few piped musical ditties. It seems utterly daft that paying spectators are less informed than those watching at home.
Sure, the crowd can purchase referee links outside before kick-off, but at €10 a pop and non-reusable they are just another shakedown on top of a very expensive day – not least in tickets that are perhaps pricing fans away from Irish games.
At least the IRFU’s TV deals, both last autumn and this, did ensure that, unlike their counterparts, Ireland’s games were on terrestrial television. Selling the games off to yet another pay-per-view streaming service may bring in some booty to all the unions and federations, but it also means reduced audiences for what is already a niche sport.
But while availability on terrestrial TV is a good thing, it could be a double-edged sword if the game is not made more accessible to those paying to be inside the stadium.
