KEY POINTS:
Rugby fans aren't just turning away from the television, they're also deserting the turnstiles.
Crowds at the country's five Super 14 franchises games have fallen by an average of 11 per cent on last year. The champion Crusaders have been hardest hit, with crowds dropping by 23 per cent.
The stadium figures follow a trend reported in a Herald story this week that revealed Sky TV was set to shed close to a million viewers from its Friday night primetime rugby slot over the season.
Feedback to that story flooded into the paper's website, with more than 100 respondents an hour joining the debate over a three-day period.
A range of reasons were given for the big turn-off. The most common included: rugby overload; the early start to the season; the enforced absence of 22 star All Blacks; the rules, particularly the new scrum law.
"Rugby has no soul anymore, it was sold to the corporates a few years ago," lamented a respondent named Ivan.
Could the country really be falling out of love with the national game?
No, say industry insiders.
The downturn was expected in a World Cup year, Blues marketing manager Grant McKenzie said.
"You have to go back and analyse crowd figures since the start of the competition. They do fluctuate and, in World Cup years, they do tend to be lower. Matters other than rugby are more top of the mind."
As for the state of the game - the apparent dissatisfaction with its structure and rules - that too was cyclical, Mr McKenzie said.
"It's the lineouts one year, the scrums another. It comes and goes."
Maybe so. But there are other signs all might not be well on planet rugby.
Last year a home Bledisloe Cup match against Australia failed to sell out at Christchurch's Jade Stadium. The Irish also failed to sell out Eden Park, and another premier event, a Super 14 semifinal - again at Jade - attracted a paltry 25,071 spectators.
But it's not all doom and gloom. The Waikato-based Chiefs have bucked the trend, building on last season's crowd and also increasing season memberships despite failing to notch a win in their first five matches.
"Every year when the competition starts there are negative people out there and people compare us to other sports," Chiefs marketing manager Pat Melsop said.
"I'm not saying some of those [complaints] don't need to be addressed - the game's not perfect and we're not perfect - but this happens every year."
Comparing crowd numbers is an inexact science. However, statistically the variables should balance out over time. And spectator numbers are down across the board.
Initially an NZRFU spokesman said the union was "keen to get on the front foot" and confront the issue. But late yesterday chief executive Steve Tew responded to the Herald's request for an interview with a written statement: "We are not commenting on the Rebel Sport Super 14 attendance figures or the trends behind those figures until the season has reached its conclusion."
League appears to be benefiting from the dissatisfaction with rugby. Crowds at the Warriors this year are up by more than 50 per cent.
