GAVIN RICH: Rain or shine, fans turn out for franchise teams
Stadium full of 50,000 supporters at Bulls-Stormers game confirms growth spurt in local rugby
The interest generated in the big United Rugby Championship (URC) derby between the Bulls and Stormers in Pretoria confirmed the growth spurt we’ve seen in the interest in regional/franchise rugby in SA.
If someone had suggested a few years back that there would be a 50,000 crowd at Loftus, even for a Bulls/Stormers game, they would have been laughed at. Yet there it was, with the official figure sent out by the Bulls on social media at halftime being 50,016. And the interest was in evidence not just in Pretoria, but also through the Bulls and Stormers shirts spotted in Cape Town on the morning of the game...
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