THE FINAL WHISTLE
MARK KEOHANE: Lions need a full house of South African fans to roar them into Super Rugby top spot
The Lions deserve a full house for Saturday’s final against the Crusaders simply because of the rugby they have played in the past two seasons.
There was a time in South African rugby when 50,000 people would pitch up on a Wednesday to watch two club sides. There is a time – and it will be next weekend in Paarl – when 20,000 will watch arguably school rugby’s biggest derby between Paarl Boys’ High and Paarl Gymnasium.
And here I am pleading with the pride of Johannesburg’s rugby support base to get to Ellis Park and fill the stadium for a Super Rugby final. Fewer than 30,000 (26,000) were at Ellis Park for the Lions quarterfinal win against the Sharks and fewer than 30,000 (28,000) people witnessed one of the most astonishing Super Rugby play-off comebacks against the defending champions, Hurricanes.The people clearly have spoken with their wallets when it comes to Super Rugby – and it’s not just in Johannesburg. The Brumbies quarterfinal against the Hurricanes in Canberra got a crowd of fewer than 10,000 (capacity 18,000) at the Bruce Stadium. Even Newlands dipped below the accepted number when the Stormers hosted the Chiefs in their quarterfinal. The Stormers’ home support, on average in excess of 30,000 over the past 20 years, managed just 21,000. And in New Zealand, champion teams the Crusaders and Chiefs couldn’t fill half the stadium in Christchurch for a semifinal match of the highest qual...
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