KEY POINTS:
The opening Super 14 matches in New Zealand failed to recapture the spectator support which was lost from the start of last year's controversial Cotton Wool Club season.
That trend was emphasised by a poll yesterday which revealed nearly a third of New Zealanders were suffering rugby fatigue and would be taking a reduced interest in the international and provincial series this year.
Those forecasts should disturb the New Zealand Rugby Union which reported a drop in television viewership and crowd attendances when they made a special presentation late last year to provincial officials.
Figures obtained by the Herald and delivered to the meeting had Super 14 television viewers down 20 per cent last year and average crowd numbers down by 3.8 per cent to 19,110 while viewership for the national provincial competition dived by 31 per cent and crowds dropped by 10.7 per cent.
Two years ago when the Super 14 series started, 35,200 people watched the Blues host the Hurricanes at Eden Park while 28,000 saw the Crusaders play the Highlanders in Christchurch.
Last year after a short spell between seasons, 26,300 went to the Eden Park for round one to see the Blues host the Crusaders while last weekend, after a lengthy break since the All Blacks World Cup exit, 23,400 spectators chose to watch the Blues play their rivals the Chiefs.
The night before, 16,500 had battled poor weather to watch the Crusaders.
Research NZ director Emanuel Kalafatelis said his company discovered younger people were more likely to take a greater interest in rugby but there had been fan fatigue from almost a third of those polled after the World Cup and huge coverage last season.
"People's interest may grow as we move deeper into this season, or this could signal that Kiwis are becoming more interested in sports other than rugby," said Kalafatelis.
