Which came first, the tedious display on the field or the muted atmosphere in the stands? When the postmortem of Ireland’s 23-13 loss to New Zealand at the Aviva Stadium last Friday had been conducted, the sense of deflation made room for a well-worn debate to once again rear its head: Did the atmosphere at the Aviva fall short?
This was a Test meeting between two of the best teams in the world, and yet ...
In response to a call-out by The Irish Times, readers made known their opinions on the atmosphere at last week’s Autumn Nations Series game.
The consensus: the atmosphere did not live up to the occasion, but nor did the game itself.
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On reader, Richard, wrote: “It felt like the atmosphere reflected the stop-start, stuttering performance that felt ok but clearly not near the highs of the past few editions of this fixture and other peaks for this stadium.”
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He also took issue with the Aviva’s efforts to hype up the crowd. “The prematch music is, to be kind, ill-judged, the series of prematch stadium announcements and the ‘light show’ are clearly creations of someone who has no memory or experience of a stadium where an atmosphere builds organically ... By the time the game has started I am glad that nonsense is over as much as I am [glad] the game has started.”
Martin from Galway also criticised the “facile pageantry” of the prematch build-up, but he felt the issue wasn’t solved by the kick-off. “There was enough evidence to suggest that there were too many people there who got their tickets through corporate or private club affiliations ... The crowd had their moment or two, but all in all this game proved to be a bland experience punctuated by the constant non-stop lines of people going to or returning from the bar or the toilet.”
And in a shot that may well hit a nerve with many, particularly those of a Galway or Connacht persuasion, Martin writes that the Fields of Athenry, along with The West’s Awake and “the absolute Rosemary Clooney sounding Stand Up And Fight”, “do nothing but sedate all in attendance and increase the need for more alcohol input when it finishes”.
Richard from Tipperary could well disagree with Martin’s disparaging comments on Munster’s adopted song, but the two do see eye-to-eye that Friday didn’t live up to the billing.
“The atmosphere at the Aviva is more often than not quite flat and this has been becoming more prevalent over the last 10 years,” Richard wrote.
“I have experienced a muted atmosphere against almost every other team except New Zealand up until this point. I am therefore really disappointed to say that the atmosphere at this match was one of the worst I have experienced.”
Also raising the issue of people coming and going from their seats during play, he suggested the bars should only serve drink before and after the game and at half-time.
He added: “It seems like very few Irish fans are engaged enough in the match to really cheer on their team throughout the game.”
However, he noted it the case of Friday this was not aided by the stop-start nature of the game. “The scrums seemed to take forever to form, the referee seemed to blow his whistle constantly. Add to that Ireland’s lineout difficulties and soft turnovers and there was little to get the crowd excited.”
But when the chips are down, he said it’s the crowd’s duty to help turn things around. “It is as if the individuals in the crowd are afraid to raise their voices in case they might look foolish or stand out too much. We seem to have lost the willingness to come together to energise the team.
“We could barely get through a few lines of the Fields of Athenry before it petered out. This will remain the case until we as fans realise that we are responsible for creating the atmosphere as much as the players on the pitch.”
Donal from Belfast had niceties to share of his fellow standees, but you can sense his experience wasn’t blockbuster either.
“There wasn’t much walking in and out to get drinks near me. Although those around me were pleasant, they were almost all totally disengage from the game and were just chatting amongst themselves most of the game, seemed like they were clients being taken to a game by Dublin-based companies.”
“I almost felt self-conscious loudly cheering on Ireland,” Donal added.
While Jamie from London agrees that the atmosphere was subdued, he had a different take as to why.
“I think if a team hasn’t lost at their stadium for four years then there tends to be a degree of complacency amongst supporters. It happens all around the world and [is] not exclusive to the Aviva.”
His solution? The GAA will love this one. “Bringing back terracing into the north stand” claiming such section are “always the source of atmosphere in most stadiums”.
And a number of responses also queried the impact of the late Friday night kick-off, particularly for fans from beyond the pale.
“Late start on Friday didn’t suit many outside Dublin,” Donal from Sligo said.
“Rural supporters [are] much more involved than pint swillers on the mobile phones in corporate boxes and premium seats.” Oof! That one may start a turf war.
But not everyone took such a dim view of Friday night’s showing, and a few readers were unimpressed with the negative focus on the topic.
Deirdre from Dublin said she thought the atmosphere on Friday was quite good, with “plenty of noise until the last 15 minutes”.
She did question why the Aviva seems to be a hard stadium to create an atmosphere, but added: “People expected too much and go quiet when we don’t play well.”
Deidre’s sentiment was echoed by Aoife from Kilkenny, who said she thought the atmosphere was great and didn’t have any issue with the aforementioned coming and going of other fans.
“Atmosphere was more subdued when it became obvious we were not going to win but that’s understandable,” she added.
And Lorcan from Dublin kept his response short and sweet. “The crowd were fine, stop this campaign slagging the crowd.”
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