The Murrayfield factor that left Gregor Townsend ‘amazed’ as Scotland head coach hopes for trickle-down effect

Hopes upsurge in attendance numbers can translate to club game

Gregor Townsend said he has been amazed by the numbers coming to Scotland games over the autumn and hopes the boom in attendance figures can have a trickle-down effect on the club game.

Sunday’s match against Australia at Murrayfield is sold out, as were the fixtures against Fiji and South Africa earlier this month. Even last weekend’s match with Portugal attracted 60,983, against a side ranked 16th in the world.

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With Scottish Rugby having posted losses of £11.3 million, the governing body needs the crowds to keep coming. Match-day revenue from a sold-out Murrayfield is estimated to be around £5m per game.

More than 60,000 attended Scotland's match with Portugal.More than 60,000 attended Scotland's match with Portugal.
More than 60,000 attended Scotland's match with Portugal. | SNS Group

“I'm amazed with the amount of people that are coming to our games,” said Townsend. “We've covered rugby in Scotland for a while and didn't used to have this.

“I think, looking back, the last time I played Portugal [in 1998] there was about 7,000 or 8,000 at the game. So that is a brilliant development and long may it continue.

“The atmosphere in Murrayfield is so much better with a full crowd. Let's see if we can get these people into the club game. How many people are inspired by what they're seeing from the Test team to go along to a Saturday afternoon game? And to fill the crowds up at Edinburgh and Glasgow, who are also doing well with crowd numbers.

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“And if we can start selling out both pro teams, that puts more pressure on stadium builds, redevelopments. I think the atmospheres at both Scotstoun and the Hive, when you get to 6,000, 7,000 are great. But there's no reason why they can't continue to get to 10,000 and beyond.”

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