Pay-per-view silence Ruddock’s family double

NO viewing figures have been divulged for the PRO14’s opening plunge into the often shallow pool of pay-per-view television.

Whatever Premier Sports’ audience for the Blues-Leinster opener in Cardiff last week, it will have been dwarfed by a women’s football international 12 miles eastwards along the M4 at Newport.

As well as a rare full house at Rodney Parade, the WalesEngland winner-take-all World Cup decider drew a peak viewership of more than 110,000 as claimed by BBC Wales. Had the PRO14 attracted anywhere near that size of following at any of their matches, they would have been shouting it from the rooftops all week long. THE head honchos of the Robinson and Ruddock families go back a fair way, to a time when one had charge of the World Cup holders and the other had been chosen to run the Red Dragons after Steve Hansen made his predetermined exit back to New Zealand.

Wales-England at the start of the 2005 Six Nations on a wintry Friday night at the Millennium Stadium will always be remembered for Gavin Henson’s double whammy, his king-hit on England’s teenaged centre Mathew Tait followed by the long-range penalty which set Wales off towards an unexpected Grand Slam.

Fast forward 13 years to last week and the sequel to Robinson v Ruddock, back in Cardiff at the Arms Park. This time the back row sons took centre stage, Ollie Robinson for the Blues, Rhys Ruddock for Leinster.

Just when the Blues got to within touching distance of making the champions pay for leaving almost all their big-hitters back in Dublin and evening up the score on behalf of the Robinsons, so Leinster’s Ireland flanker marshalled the drive to secure a Ruddock double.