Wynne Gray wonders whether there is something for New Zealand Rugby to learn from Turkey.
LISTENING FROM the other side of the globe as the All Blacks continue to hew their way through their test programme, puts a different perspective on the rugby code.
Staying deep in the middle of Turkey, the options on picking up the live scoring depended on the reliability of the internet connections. They were good enough to patch together the gist of a sport which surfaced in Turkey almost a century ago when the Anzacs displayed their skills in the Dardanelles.
Rugby spluttered to get much more than a toehold until five years ago when they joined the lower tier circuit and opened their international records in 2012 with a victory against Slovenia. They have won all of their subsequent tests.
Those matches will get coverage somewhere but soccer dominates the sports pages, airwaves and television time whether you are in the backblocks or in the enchanting city of Istanbul. It continues to swell and push towards 16 million inhabitants, out of a national populace of about 80 million, and the pressure on space is immense.
However the city planners have managed to fit a number of special sporting stadiums into the city’s challenging landscape. They have the manpower and population to underpin magnificent arenas like the 76,000 capacity Ataturk Stadium and several others under construction, but most importantly the city fathers have the will and vision to connect these sports stages to their lifestyle.
They could have built them in the suburbs. There is plenty of room there to offer easier architectural projects but those in power chose to weave the national sport into the city’s lifestyle.
Think the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff or Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane and you get the drift about purpose- built arenas connected to their inhabitants.
Rugby in New Zealand, like soccer in Turkey, is the national sport. Both countries follow their codes with equal zeal if not outward passion but you would argue that Turkey has supported soccer with stronger infrastructure.
Wellington got it right with their decision to build on the waterfront close to the city although there will be ongoing debate about the size and shape of that stadium. Dunedin got a brilliant new covered stadium but plonked it out of the way with minimal public transport amidst doubts about its economic viability.
Then there is Eden Park. You can take your pick in the debates about the decision to remodel the ground, its suitability for rugby and cricket and its location but there
Even in New Zealand which is so ingrained in rugby and has an All Black side which is envied by the rest of the rugby globe, the sport cannot entice regular year- round huge patronage.’
will not be any foreseeable change. It will always be full for All Black tests because there is a special buzz when McCaw’s men ride into combat.
When the men in black are not heading the programme or short- form cricket is not running, the crowds thin, interest dips and Eden Park takes on a sadder face. At times you glimpse those images during the national provincial competition.
It is a tough market. People in Auckland have a variety of interests and there are many ways to watch, listen or record games when they clash with other social arrangements.
Perhaps future sports stadiums, like much of the accommodation in Turkey, should take on more of a boutique feel especially in countries like New Zealand which are lightly populated. There is a feel- good factor about such a theory however you can sniff the problems.
Imagine Super Rugby has been played with near capacity crowds supporting their sides during a long- season. When the playoffs arrive, interest escalates and more people want to cherry- pick the final series as part of their social calendar.
Would regular supporters be shunted aside by ticket price hikes, what methods would administrators use to allocate seats?
Even in New Zealand which is so ingrained in rugby and has an All Black side which is envied by the rest of the rugby globe, the sport cannot entice regular year- round huge patronage. They will watch on television, surf the internet or listen on the car radio. Rugby is part of life, a segment of our weekly regimes rather than the sort of primary focus it used to occupy in the lives of those previous generations.
Thank goodness though for those upgraded communication channels when you are overseas and you hanker to find out how those All Blacks fared or your province is travelling in the ITM Cup. Its almost as good as being at the game.