The major negative for Welsh rugby was the fact the match was played in front of a disappointing crowd of 16,456 in the first rugby international played at Cardiff City’s football stadium, which has a capacity of more than 33,000.
This victorious Wales side, who beat a team two places above them in the world rankings, deserved to have celebrated that success in front of more fans.
International rugby is supposed to be the pinnacle and should not be performed in front of thousands of empty seats.
This was the second successive week the Wales men’s side have played in front of underwhelming crowds after the 33-31 victory against Barbarians at the Allianz Stadium where two of the three Twickenham stands were closed.
Now we had the Cardiff City Stadium failing to sell out despite having a fan-friendly mid-afternoon kick-off.
Regardless of the semantics of this being an away Wales game with Fiji choosing to host their “home” match in Cardiff, Welsh rugby bosses should be concerned because this was a poor look to a worldwide audience.
It was the only opportunity for Wales fans to see their own national side in a competitive game in Cardiff this summer in a new tournament against one of the most entertaining sides in world rugby.
It proved the lowest crowd of six opening-weekend Nations Championship matches, with Japan’s victory against Italy attracting 21,000.
We wait to see what crowds Fiji get at Liverpool against England, and Scotland at Murrayfield in the coming two weeks.
Just under 70,000 fans watched Wales beat Italy at Principality Stadium in mid-March, so where have those 53,000 supporters gone?
Factors such as poor results, apathy towards summer rugby, international rugby overkill and the Cardiff City Stadium not being seen as appealing a location as the Principality Stadium must be considered.
Armchair supporters will have had other major summer sporting events like football’s World Cup, Wimbledon and Formula One’s British Grand Prix to concentrate on, while 35,000 people were watching American rapper Pitbull in an open-air Cardiff concert.
But the WRU, who will have been concentrating more on marketing their actual home games in November against New Zealand, Australia and Japan from which they will directly benefit, must not ignore how weary the Welsh public have become as a result of how the domestic game is being governed.
This week’s pay row with the Welsh players, just another controversy in a long list, highlights the negativity surrounding the sport in Wales.
While Wales are beginning to get their act together and delivering on the field, it is time the WRU emulated this off the pitch.
