KEY POINTS:
Here is an earlier selection of your views:
Steve Jordan
The fundamental long term problem for Rugby Union is that viewers are now more discerning and view Super 14, and Rugby Union in general, as a product competing with other sporting codes. Over recent decades, the codes that are increasing viewers are the fast ones that have continuity of play; hence Soccer increasing its dominance over Rugby in Britain, and the AFL's profile now overtaking Rugbys in Sydney and Brisbane. I know the purists won't like it, but more rule changes are required to increase continuity of play if Rugby is to push ahead in the coming decades. A territory regime that relies on players kicking the ball out of bounds all the time is simply not going to cut it with young people when, inevitably, soccer (and then the AFL) start seducing our young with continuity of play in coming decades.
Dave Boswell
I feel that one of the biggest turn-offs for viewers could be the fact that the camera work is now so clever that they show most of the game so close that you can no longer see the whole game. I struggle to see where the backs are lined up - flat or deep, and am often struggling to work out where they are on the field. Rugby is a game that involves the whole of both teams, unlike league that works much better with all the close-up camera work, where it always revolves around the ball carrier... just a thought that may be turning viewers off.
Digger
It's not the 22 players on reconditioning thats the problem. Its the product itself. Game has become a turnoff. Main gripes: endless scrum resets (4-step process isn't working for me); poor, inconsistent standard of refereeing ; over officious referees behaving like God and not accountable to payers, coaches or public; poor state of Aussie (NSW/Qld) teams making for poor quality games whenever they play. NZ teams have uncovered some really exciting players all because of 22 regulars not starting this year.
Arron
It has nothing to do with the amount of games. The rule changes has turned the game from sublime entertainment as it was a couple of years ago to something that is more boring to watch than league or even soccer. We had it almost right then the IRB has destroyed the game with their changes. Also the quality of handling from the players is worse than schoolboy level. Add to that the obsession from the South Africans to go for drop-kick attempts from what is approaching their own 22. So change the rules back to how they were. Plus reduce the points received from a drop goal to 1, and I will be watching every game again.(and teach the blues how to pass the ball along the entire backline without dropping it half a dozen times).
Ross G
It's a Rugby World Cup year. I'll watch coverage from France then to warrant giving the Super 14 a miss. With the America's Cup, World Cup Cricket, the Warriors on form, the World Swimming Champs recently completed, the Super 14 simply doesn't feature.
Mike
Very simple. Too much rugby that is boring. Also too many players whose skill levels have dropped ie cant catch the ball, cant throw a decent pass to name a couple of things.
Andy
I feel that rugby has become stale and that promoters have pushed for too many games. Rugby is now on throughout the year, which is too long. Cricket has now become a better sport and clearly outweighs rugby with its spectator value.
J Langford
Regarding the Super (or not so super) 14.It started too early this year. With 14 teams the schedule is too cluttered and there has been a dilution of the quality of players especially in the Australian franchises. Rule changes such as the scrum engagement make the games tedious to watch 4 Referees are either overly pedantic or inept at picking up blatant infringements. The original Super 10 was a free flowing and exuberant joy to watch. The current version is a defence oriented grind that has killed running rugby and individual flare.
Norm
The answer is easy, sick of he rugby, and more sick of having to pay Sky to watch it.
Graham
I have not stopped watching the S14 but it started too early, Australia should never have been given a 4th side in the comp, the Aussies have been woeful. Yes they have had loads of injuries ,but then NZ rested 22 All blacks and still flog the Ausssies with regularity. So the 22 AB re conditioning plan showed how far ahead of the Pack NZ are , in fact it was the best opportunity for the SA and Oz sides to steal a march on the kiwis ...and they didn't manage it. For the first time the South African sides are travelling well. the Sharks V Blues game was a cracker and aside from a poor performance from the ref , the Blues should have no complaints (unless DN takes the blame for being too clever by half , holding his AB's on the bench....what a dumb idea that was...) I am not interested in watching a forgone conclusion each week , and except for watching my team and the chiefs and Saders, Not much grabs my attention. If I were in charge I would look at alternatives to the current comp, a smaller number of sides in the comp say 10 ? and drop the annual 3N for a once every two year format with tours home and away in the off years. I am also unconvinced about playing super rugby before the domestic comp, a smaller number of provinces involved could mean "some " overlap (like in shield cricket in Oz)
Moses
Sack the commentators - especially the Aussie ones!
Robin Martin
It has nothing to do with the rugby- it has every thing to do with competing issues- cricket, late nights/early mornings, household brownie points, a whole series of excellent books, family holidays when Sky is not available.
Ross
I watch quite a few of the super 14 games on sky and to be honest a lot of the games are crap. This has very little to do with the absence of the 22 AB's more to do with the substandard teams from across the ditch, the ridiculous scrum engagement laws, substandard refereeing, ( eg the 1st 2 tries the sharks scored against the Blues ) and some players who quite frankly should start reading and obeying the laws of rugby. At least the rugby league is slightly better viewing.
Kate
I've recently cancelled my Sky subscription - It's a lot of money to pay for repeating the same programmes over and over. Being a good Kiwi girl I love a good game of rugby but rugby (and other sporting events) are not the sole reason why I would have a Sky connection. I think they have lost sight of the fact that subscribers may well be balanced people with other interests as well as rugby. Most of us don't have either the time or the attention span to sit in front of the rugby all weekend every weekend.
Nigel
Too many games, you can't watch 6 in a weekend which means you never really get a connection with the competition. The coverage is pretty dodgy as well, it looks as jaded as the rugby, though Melanie is a fantastic talent, the rest are spread as thin as the Rugby talent. If they are going to have this many teams they have to spread the games over the week, eg the teams heading for the bye go Friday night, Wed night, 8 days off then a Fri/Sat game. There also needs a Monday night game, otherwise as I say, too much rugby in too short a time & to hard to keep track of. Lastly, this obsessive fascination by the commentators with the term franchise really turns me off, not sure about other viewers, but it does nothing to encourage me that these are teams with any foundations vs a transitory business opportunity.
Graeme
Well I've been going to most Blues games instead of watching them on TV (at a mate's place), so that's one reason. Also I agree with Jono - I've enquired about just the sports packages but you have to get all the other crap you don't want (E!) and be connected for a minimum time period and pay again if you happen to move. It's a joke.
NickS
Yes I know Rugby is our national sport but I was over it 5 years ago. I use to watch it all the time but lost interest. It was shoved down my throat at school even though I played soccer and put me off. Personally I think 1. There is too much rugby played now. Too many internationals etc. 2. Rugby has to compete with other codes. Warriors are doing well this season. 3. The All Black weren't playing for half the super 12 so it is lower quality. 4. The rules have been mucked around with so its harder to watch. 5. People have finally realised they have better things to do on a Friday night than sit on their arse and watch TV.
N Boyce
I love rugby and watch every game live that is not being played in South Africa. I was living in Melbourne for 6 years before moving back to New Zealand due to the lack of rugby coverage in Australia. I've never played it but wish I did. Not really too sure why everyone is moaning and complaining. It's been a great season with some awesome new players coming through in the Kiwi teams and it's exciting to see the South African teams doing so well. It also warms my heart to see NSW doing so badly. Tuqiri is great comedy value, I love it when he gets the ball and the crowd and commentators go nuts.. then he falls over or drops the ball. Almost as funny as Wendall used to be. You gotta love the league followers who always have to chip in their 2 cents about how much better league players are and yet when they try switch codes they're always pretty useless. Anyway, I love it and I hope all you crybabies don't spoil it for the rest of us by getting what you want :: Less coverage and support for a game we're actually good at.
Sarah K
I'd rather watch paint dry. It's a boof-head sport.
Kent
I am sick to death with the Super competition. It is only candy floss rugby, it has become stale and the Poms showed us in 2002 & 2003 the value of real rugby. The Super 12 should have been completely overhauled in 2006. If it had perhaps some pacific island teams and maybe an Argentinian team, it would have given it more variety and something new. The NZRFU and Sky have made the same mistake with the Tri-Nations. Despite many of the public complaining that it had become stale and same old same old, they went ahead and re-signed the same teams but with more games.Duh! Perhaps they will listen to the viewers in future, although 8 years is a long way off. I hope too much damage hasn't been done by then.
Pat
I dont want to watch rugby all year round. Its still cricket season as far as Im concerned so I havent watched one rugby match yet. Rugby has become too invasive I reckon and I object to that. When the cricket is over....
Ruga
I watch it but its started a month or so too early so people aren't aware its on. It competes with summer type activities. I believe it is slowly killing our national game as it is somewhat overkill. I have been involved with discussions various groups across the country who see the support for rugby waning due to saturation. There is talk of players not making themselves available for such early year starts. Some of the players involved are senior.
M
Rugby,including super 14,is not a summer sport. During the summer most New Zealanders want summer sports; they have had enough of Rugby for awhile (just like the players themselves need a break). Viewing figures for a winter sport during summer should hopefully never detract from other sports. I will keenly watch Rugby again now that my summer interests are coming to a close.A viewer would have to be incredibly one dimensional to watch only a specific sport 12 months of the year.
Tom Rawson
Same old teams from the same old countries. The competition needs some new zing. Teams from Argentina, the islands, Japan, Canada or the States would add a freshness and new interest to the competition, as well as helping rugby in these areas.
Peter
As a keen rugby watcher over the years there now seems to have been a reversal of the codes. League, once too stop start and very defensive has now become a great spectacle with the NRL having a tightly contested competition. Rugby on the other hand has become a slog fest with a game occasionally breaking out in between scrums that keep getting reset time and time again. Rugby has lost my interest for the time being so its NRL and EPL football for me.
Paul H
Simple. We've been overdosed on rugby and we are cognisant that the world cup is just around the corner. The season started in the middle of a summer cricket series, after what seemed like only weeks since the last 2006 rugby match. Test matches are no longer real tests - they are so frequent that they're no longer special, and it doesn't matter if you lose because the real goal is the world cup anyway. I'm going to sit back and enjoy the cricket world cup, watch the warriors, and save myself for the rugby world cup.
Stephen Yetman
I'm still watching a lot of rugby. I guess I do support the Crusaders and they are still producing a good standard of rugby.
Suzanne
Too much rugby. I like watching sport and have always enjoyed a rugby and netball game, however over the last few years there's just too much rugby and it starts too early in the season.
Bill Arabin
I think it's pretty simple,the same sad commentators,the inability for anybody to criticise the ref s,who it must be said have sat themselves on a pedestal and tried to take all the limelight in a game were they should be basically unseen and hardly heard.
John
I haven't watched Rugby since the pole tackle on O'Driscoll, that the New Zealand camp deny happened, also I think there on something ! No normal person would behave the way modern players do.
Richard
So whats more important to kiwi's. Sky's ratings, profits, or the all blacks getting what they need to hopefully bring back the cup. Sky TV, if it wants to fit in to NZ should understand the cup is more important, if not then they show themselves up for the money greedy company I already think they are, hahaha.
Loki
Lack of Product Innovation. Early Season Start, Cricket Effect, Dire Rules,Rubbish Australian Teams, Standard of Refereeing: I don't think Super rugby going to 14 has helped any with the early season start. We had a late start to the international cricket calendar in New Zealand and I was still fully in cricket mode and the fine Chappell Hadlee series from a NZ point of view when, oh yeah, the Super 14's on too. Further, there's the cricket World Cup. I can only watch so much sport, so international cricket or Waratahs v Reds, hmm. This season, the Aussies have been rubbish to watch. Who wants to see the Reds, they're dire, or the Waratahs, complete rubbish. Also forget the All Blacks presence or non-presence as a scapegoat, the incessant tinkering with the laws of the game of rugby are its undoing. How bad are these new scrum laws as a spectacle, and how many people, really, honestly understand which team is supposedly at fault when after the standard second restart there's a free kick? Cut to the free kick already if it's going to be set three times, and after all, where are the injuries incurred? From stress at engagement and from collapsing, so great, lets do that over and over. How much new innovation has been added to rugby coverage in the last few years? There are statistics for Africa in the game. Let's have 'em. Try strike rates, reliance on kicking points, player v player strike rates and metres gained per game, which quarters are the points scored in by team, are they a hard starter or finisher...it goes on. Look at what cricket's achieved in recent years with graphical representations of key statistics. These jokers at Sky think they can roll out the same stuff time and again and it's all good, yeah right. By the way, awful condescending customer service from Sky. Finally, refereeing...referee the games, not the player's reputations for infringement.
Warren Pickens
Other than Sky shareholders it's difficult to imagine any true NZ'ers being concerned regarding Sky's loss of viewers, the big concern really is the people who can't afford to watch our national game & the effect that will have on the games future especially considering how many of our top players come from lower socio-economic groups that can no longer view free to air rugby games. Come on rugby administrators, free to air rugby matches have inspired many childhood dreams & I'm sure many past & present representative players would be happy to endorse that view in order to give further evidence to that statement. Having to subscribe to Sky in order to view the best of our so called national game can only be detrimental to recruitment of younger players & the games future, especially as these potential new players are not in a position to decide if their parents have Sky or not.
David Millar
Sky tv is just too expensive! You have to pay about $45 each month to get several channels with nothing on them apart from reruns of the Simpsons. Then if you want sport or movies you get charged more. It's just not worth what they charge!
Darren Craze
To be honest, I have not watched a single Super 14 game at all this year barring the Blues opening game which I attended at Eden Park; and the only reason for this being was that I had a free ticket to do so. Super Rugby has just become too much. It is far too predictable; Chiefs never make the semis, Crusaders always win etc etc - , starts far too early, and it is fairly obvious that the NZ public are just over the amount of rugby we are exposed too. Besides which, who actually is watching rugby whilst the Cricket World Cup is now into the business stage, and when NRL has started?
Heather
I think they have no right to encroach on summer sports. They are nothing short of greedy, and I personally don't believe there is as much skill in the game as compared to Soccer, Tennis, Cricket and the real sports that the world watch.
Graham
Its easy to understand. to much rugby which dilutes itself . Super 14, the same old tri-nations . Frankly I would rather mow the lawns nowadays. Rugby nowadays is so overdone commercially its just not an attractive product.
Bring back Buck
1)Night games - the sunday arvo game between the Chiefs and Highlanders in Queenstown was magic. 2) cheerleaders and music - rather than a rock n roll circus bring tradition back to the game. The marching bands during the French 5 nations set a grand sense of occasion. 3) dull commentary - I bet they wear grey suits, the Aussie commentators are way better.
Noni
The additional teams are not up to scratch - Australia can not sustain so many teams at this high level - and neither can SA. Talk about boring.
Neil
Welcome to the 21st century. Who in their right mind would want to watch a game where the majority of the time is spent with no action happening and a group of muscle bound clods ambling around the paddock? Finally people are realising that real sports include triathalons, multisport, climbing, skiing, surfing and skydiving. Running up and down the grass hurting people seems a little primitive nowadays.
Teresa
I love the Rugby - living in an Australian dominated household I just thought it was the Aussies who were sour on the game because their teams are so bad. Its no different to League and cricket - played 12 months a year.
Hillary
It's on free to air TV too late ... I used to enjoy watching it when it started at 8.30 pm but now it finishes just too late for me to be bothered - and when I was bothered to watch it on TV I was also bothered enough to go and watch a game or too - now I'm not. Get it back on TV at a reasonable hour and I must just be bothered again!
Mike Williams
Keep it out of the cricket season.
Pam (Sydney)
Well, to be honest I am watching so called Super rugby. You see I'm not only an Allblacks nut and a Crusaders fan, while living in Sydney, to me its a blessing when all you read about is League, League, League.As an expat when it comes to Super rugby I support all of the Kiwi teams and actually hope they draw when the play each other and try to watch every game that involves our teams.I'm off to Aussie stadium when our guys hit these shores but for some damn reason my interest is starting to wane. I can't put my finger on the reason why, is it those stupid new scrum laws, which I feel endangers the players more?, the terrible Aussie rugby or the yawning feeling that the Crusaders are going to take it out again.Dont get me wrong I love that at this time we have 3 teams in the top 4, but is Super rugby becoming predictable?. Yep Yep Yep the South Africans will slog it out in the forwards as well as take players out, the Aussies will show glimpses of brilliance every 4 to 5 rounds and our guys will canter along nicely then do the damage at the business end. Quite frankly next year I am going to watch less Rugby, this year only keeps my viewing because I want to see a certain Cantabrian holding up a certain cup on behalf of ssshhhh, a certain nation. No names I am too scared to actually say the words.
Steve Sharpe
Hi you get sick of rugby rugby always getting the lime light shame more sports dont get same publicity and coverage in the news and funding
Bruce Lim
I have played Cricket my whole life and have only ever watched Rugby, however I become a Chiefs/AB's fan a few years ago. It seems to me like the Rugby season starts earlier and finishes later each year, although part of the problem this year can be attributed to the World Cup. Nevertheless I was unable to attend early season games as the pre-game would be starting just as I was getting home from cricket! I doubt I would ever pay to go to a Chiefs home game, I only take go with a free ticket from my mate (works for Rebel Sports) or my employer (corporate seats). I find the prices incredible for 80 mins. Even watching on overpriced Sky, I find the rules confusing, the scrums unbelievably time-consuming, and the default option is always to kick from behind your 22 which is repeated over and over again in every single game. I have personally paid for and attended every Warriors game held at Waikato Stadium. I find the Warriors are more fun to watch. IMHO in Rugby they try to get over the advantage line, in league they look to break the advantage line. There is a lot of Rugby on to watch, you would lose most of the weekend if you attempted to watch every game. I only made time to watch the Chiefs, although its hardly the end of the world if I miss a game. Will watch the Blues or the Crusaders if there is nothing else on, but that is mainly to see individual players perform rather than the actual team (Toeava is a star in the making and Dan Carter can only be described as a freak - did you see 'that' kick?).
Andy
Previously a rugby obsessive but currently bored watching Super 14. There is far too much rugby and I have become desensitised without any nticipation.Who really cares who wins the comp as it appears to be a souless money making corporate construction? I've decided to save my rugby viewing for the World Cup.
David
I would be interested to know whether viewership has fallen off in SA. Sky do not own the rights here so it won't be counted in the drop off figures. However the viewership drop off is larger than I thought it would be but hardly surprising. Whilst the missing NZ players in Rounds 1-8 are a factor I do not believe it is the dominant factor or even a significant factor. Last year the organisers/sponsors really screwed themselves by adding two teams to the Super Series thus adding an extra 26 games. They also 3 more games added to the Tri Nations. Add to this the fact that the WC Cricket is on at the moment, the Amercias Cup is due to start and the Rugby WC follows later on this year. There is simply too much sport and people have to cut down somewhere. George 1. The Rugby started two weeks earlier, cutting further in the summer of cricket! After an already late end to the season. There has been a lot of cricket on.
Adrian
When it comes to rugby, I'm really only interested in international matches featuring the All Blacks. Rugby is often boring to watch: endless reset scrums, lineouts, and kicking for touch. Missing All Blacks have nothing to do with my viewing decisions... watching Dan kick penalties for the Crusaders has only limited entertainment value. Lots of other competitions offer superior entertainment - Breakers in the NBL and Wariors in the NRL being two examples.
L Oliver
I don't care whether there are any All Blacks in a team if they are playing attractive rugby. The problem is that games built on defence, defence, defence are turgidly slow and boring to watch. And it's only been made worse by the ridiculous scrum and ruck rules. Bring back the fast-flowing games and viewers like me will return. Simple.
Michael
I live in England and visit family in NZ so read your paper online to keep up with your news.It was interesting reading your various correspondents views on TV Rugby in NZ. I note the constant theme of SKY TV coming up and agree with that being a major problem for the Sport. They do present things well but it is so dear. For example in the UK if you want the Sports package to watch Rugby and Premiership Soccer it costs £45 a month ($ 120) and if you want to record on Sky+ add another £10 ($ 26) add oin the Movie Channel and HD TV an it seems to cost £80 $215!!!) I think it is all about money and that Murdoch should not be allowed his monopoly!! There should be more than one channel showing the games. Also the laws of the game should not be tampered with every year, as it seems every time that players find a way to bend them, they are changed to make the game sterile - such as the scrum laws. I also think that there should be limited replacement players for genuine injuries only, so that most of the team stay on till the end and it is a game of attrition with the strongest and most skillful team prevailing. As England will bomb out somewhere about the quarter or semi finals in the World Cup I shall be wearing my All Black Polo Shirt with pride down the local pub!
Bill
The biggest problem in this country with sport, is that we have been sold out to Pay TV. I live in Australia for 23 years, and during that time Murdoch tried to take over all sport there with the Fox Pay TV. The Government showed some balls and passed it into law that all sport would be aired on Free to Air TV unless they were not covering an event, hence all sport is on Free To Air prior to Pay Television. Rugby here has sold out to Murdoch for the almighty dollar, and the NZRFU don't give a toss about Mr Average Income who can't afford Sky. One day they will wake up and remember it's Mt Average that keeps their game going. It's not only rugby that is affected by this, but most other sports also, chasing the almighty dollar and signing up with Murdochs Sky.
Phil
Simply started to early (and not just this year) and too much rugby. Because it started too early it was easy to miss the first few games. Once you have missed the start its even easier to keep missing the games as you don't 'get into it'. Personally i'm still watching all the cricket and can't handle both cricket and rugby. I'll start watching the rugby once the cricket is finished. I'll be right into the NPC more than the super 14.
Fred T
Incomprehensible rules. The other day my kid kept asking my why the ref was blowing his whistle. Most of the time I had no idea. And I've played or followed the game for over 30 years! Whether I will any longer is certainly up for debate unless they can simplify the game down - so that at least the refs and players can understand it.
Darron Gedge
I think the main reason for the decline in viewership is the monopoly of Sky TV on sport in New Zealand. It is too expensive to have all the relevant sports channels, and to add insult to injury there are now adverts between breaks in the cricket. I got the cheapest deal $34 a month which inluded just Sky Sport One and Sky One.I was angry during the pool stages of the cricket world cup that so many of the games were farmed out to the other sports channels. How can people on middle and low incomes afford to pay over $60 a monthy when house prices are 6 times the annual salary. The mortgage does not leave much left over. TVNZ could solve its problems by winning back the rights to the Rugby. Secondly, the game is becoming too sanitised and boring. I hate it how players and coaches interviews are so PC because they can't criticise referees or say what they like.Thirdly, the season is too long. I won't be watching rugby if there is cricket on.
Chris
I hope someone from the NZRFU is reading these comments by fans of rugby. The most used word so far has been boring and that sums up pro rugby--boring ,stop start, pedantic ,confusing.The NZRFU need to lose the arrogance and realise something is wrong with our national game but no doubt they will do what they do best and bury their heads in the sand and pat each other on the back and say all is well.
Lex
For me the main reasons are; It starts too early, I am a cricket fan as well and I resent rugby encroaching into my other preferred sports season. In previous years I've not started to follow the season until about April. The off season is too short, I'm still recovering from the length of the 2003 season, I switched off sky after the 2004 cricket season. As I've stopped following the game as closely, I've also not kept up with the law changes, a little bit each year becomes a lot cumulatively over 4 years.Australian rugby is awful. Get the referees to stop talking, when I played youth rugby we were allowed the coaches on the field to give advice, surely professionals should not need this constant coaching by the ref's. They push the rules until they are told off. The new SANZAR deal is rubbish. I would watch the NPC if they evened the playing field between the S14 franchises holders and the other unions. It's refreshing to watch different teams and players but unfortunately is the same old, same old who dominate it but with slightly different patterned jumpers. As a BOP fan, I do not feel enfranchised by the Chiefs, I am a Hurricanes supporter at S14 level, although as you can read above I haven't been much of a supporter at all for the last 4 years. Sky is too expensive, plus I feel much better and get more out of my life once I switched it off. With both Sky (which I don't have) and broadband (which I do) I am paying half the cost for services I don't want and don't use, one of them has to miss out.
Matt
The average punter doesn't seem to matter anymore. Rugby is catering to television audiences overseas and local corporates. I no longer have SKY and no longer watch Prime's delayed coverage as they can't even show the lineups of the playing 15s before a game. Some of their coverage has started after the kick-off. Before a Bledisloe test last year we had an hour of Melodie Robinson shopping in Brisbane! Daft. I no longer go to the stadium in Wellington which is like a police-state with watered down, exorbitantly priced beer and food. I did, however, go to the Canes game in Palmerston North and was amazed to see beer and coke and bourbon for sale in cans and there were no crowd problems. And don't get me started on the new rules and officiating! Rugby as we knew it is dead.
Don l
Ever since the game became Skys pay to view, I have lost all interest in our New Zealand game. Now I only watch the free to view games cricket and netball they are so much more interesting anyway.
Andrew
Rugby smug be! Years ago our elite players were kept away from playing other International players every week. Not so any more, so it is quite obvious that they are going to work their play out. This equates to ho hum rugga, what a yawn! Tell them to take a pay cut by pulling out of teaching the rest of the world our game and we will start watching again!
Mait
I agree with most of what I have read, season to long, quality of refs and games to low and cost of watching the game. Solutions? I would like to see afternoon games and more free to air games early in the season, these actions get me enthused and excited about following my team! and might even make me want to get a sky subscription for later in the season. I think Sky and RFU have