The abiding memory of the recent autumn internationals was not the excellence of the rugby but the great swathes of empty seats in every direction. The Scotsman's Iain Morrison reports.
"There are both general reasons and country or club-specific excuses behind the dip in crowd numbers. In Ireland it was a crazy ticketing scheme that alienated fans at a time of drastic belt-tightening. In Wales they haven't won a match in their last seven outings. Meanwhile, the Scottish public have never really bought into professional rugby and Edinburgh Rugby also angered a section of their fans by withdrawing their bar facilities.
"But there are other universal reasons that turn off the fans and chief amongst them is the proliferation of matches, especially at international level, although talk in England about expanding to a 14-team Premiership should have alarm bells ringing.
"Ireland, Wales and England all insist on playing four rather than three autumn Tests so elbowing their way into what should be a club weekend and money is at the nub of it. The RFU pays for additional access to its players by splitting the receipts from the fourth Test with the Premiership clubs while Wales and Ireland both have debt to pay down thanks to their new stadiums. Only Scotland have resisted the fourth Test but that is due to the obvious lack of demand more than any noble restraint."
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