Where were you?

[ellis9]

Today was a Saturday 3pm kick off. Where were you?

Twickenham

So a Friday or Sunday kick off would have been better then.

[Chobbsy]

Today was a Saturday 3pm kick off. Where were you?

Twickenham

So a Friday or Sunday kick off would have been better then.

It doesn't worry me

[LE18]

Makes no difference to us,
Friday nights, great start to a weekend, couple of beers, watch or dance to Rock Bottom, hiss boo or cheer Elvis whichever takes your fancy.
Saturdays, bit similar, but don't stay too long if something else is on.
Sundays, Chinese takeaway on way home, saves cooking and less washing up for me!
Not a bad way for 2 old fogies who love our rugby.

[Caerlyr Osprey]

As a Welshman who has season ticket with the Tigers and as it was a cup game, I stayed home and watched the Wales - Scotland International. If it had been a league game I would have been more likely to attend.

[Cardiff Tig]

This competition has never drawn in decent crowds. I remember the EDF final against Ospreys at Twickenham that was only half full (the one we won!), and the fact that the final is now held at small stadia says it all.

Factor that in with the England game and what do you expect.

I remember a Monday night "A League" game some years ago when the Crumbie and Alliance & Leicester were full and they had to open up the Next stand as an overflow.
I cannot remember the crowd number but guess @ 13,000 certainly in my mind more than were there on Saturday v the non compliant selection from Worcs. - no doubt they will suffer player burnout post Christmas. There prop Nick Schonert now in the England squad too!

The A-league games were also significantly cheaper to attend! Weren't they free with a season ticket? Or some nominal cost?

[aslongaswebeatsaints]

I was in my usual seat. But if another team field their first 15 against our youngsters, completely against the spirit of this competition, I’ll stay at home.

A big positive this season is there seems to be a return to the Tigers Way under GM of developing our talented and hungry youngsters through giving them more game time and I think we are better for it. Not just in the cup but also the Premiership. Yes, they make mistakes, but in the cup they get to play alongside a couple of experienced first team players - the lessons learnt helping create our winners of the future.

Rant on! But what is wrong with this competition is they advertise it as a pathway for youngsters to develop in the professional game but then you get a team like Worcester that quite simply take the :censored: by fielding almost a first 15! Pretty much as they did against Sale. They beat our team on points but what did they actually achieve except to confirm they can beat a team of juniors, up and coming players with a couple of senior players thrown in Worcester should be utterly ashamed of themselves.

And some of this misbalance shows that Premiership Rugby clearly didn’t think it through either - perhaps they should have thought a little more about the rules than the money. For example, if it’s about developing the young stars of the future put in rules that stop this one sided game happening; for example, a requirement that a reasonable percentage of the squad has to be under 25 (or similar). End of rant

p.s I didn’t read anywhere that it was a competition to rest TMOs and develop referees either....

[ellis9]

Twickenham

So a Friday or Sunday kick off would have been better then.

It doesn't worry me

Yes but are you one of the "every game must kick off at 3pm on a Saturday" brigade?

[Old Hob]

I was in the Crumbie stand. Wuss may be cleverer than people are giving them credit for. Put out a full side to practice/ rehearse moves against a better side than they would get on their domestic training pitch? And inculcate a winning habit? Wuss management may be thinking it's time they stoped being relegation fodder and tried something different. Not in the spirit of the comp for sure, but desperate times....

[jgriffin]

I was in the Crumbie stand. Wuss may be cleverer than people are giving them credit for. Put out a full side to practice/ rehearse moves against a better side than they would get on their domestic training pitch? And inculcate a winning habit? Wuss management may be thinking it's time they stoped being relegation fodder and tried something different. Not in the spirit of the comp for sure, but desperate times....

My take exactly. Solomons wants them firing well now, take into the Prem, to provide a cushion against the drop zone later, and if they get some silverware en route all the better

[sapajo]

This competition has never drawn in decent crowds. I remember the EDF final against Ospreys at Twickenham that was only half full (the one we won!), and the fact that the final is now held at small stadia says it all.

Factor that in with the England game and what do you expect.

I remember a Monday night "A League" game some years ago when the Crumbie and Alliance & Leicester were full and they had to open up the Next stand as an overflow.
I cannot remember the crowd number but guess @ 13,000 certainly in my mind more than were there on Saturday v the non compliant selection from Worcs. - no doubt they will suffer player burnout post Christmas. There prop Nick Schonert now in the England squad too!

The A-league games were also significantly cheaper to attend! Weren't they free with a season ticket? Or some nominal cost?

You are correct on both

[h's dad]

I remember a Monday night "A League" game some years ago when the Crumbie and Alliance & Leicester were full and they had to open up the Next stand as an overflow.
I cannot remember the crowd number but guess @ 13,000 certainly in my mind more than were there on Saturday v the non compliant selection from Worcs. - no doubt they will suffer player burnout post Christmas. There prop Nick Schonert now in the England squad too!

The A-league games were also significantly cheaper to attend! Weren't they free with a season ticket? Or some nominal cost?

You are correct on both

I don't know if we are thinking of the same fixture but I recall one A league match, probably a dozen years or so ago, when it was announced over the tannoy that the attendance was not only a competition record but also a world record of some sort. Ring any bells with anybody?

[johnthegriff]

10.000 attending an A league fixture with a £5 admission fee but free to season ticket holders who also received ticket vouchers to give to their friends or to just leave by the gates ensured there was little or no revenue whilst match day expenses (stewards etc) was the same as for a Premiership match enabled us to claim we had more attending a reserves game than most of our rivals had for their first team fixtures, but was it good business?

[Coops]

10.000 attending an A league fixture with a £5 admission fee but free to season ticket holders who also received ticket vouchers to give to their friends or to just leave by the gates ensured there was little or no revenue whilst match day expenses (stewards etc) was the same as for a Premiership match enabled us to claim we had more attending a reserves game than most of our rivals had for their first team fixtures, but was it good business?

It's a loss leader - entices those people into Welford Road who wouldn't normally attend first XV matches. They come in for a very low fee or even free, buy some beer, have a good time (depending on the result!) and then hopefully decide they want to watch the first team and then attend that.

[Grumpy of Crumbie]

Don't care when kick off is, had it been a league game or European game I would have been there. On Saturday I enjoyed a stroll down to the pub, a very competitive and enjoyable game of rugby and a few beers. No excuses for not being at Welford Road, I probably won't be there on Friday either. As far as I'm concerned it's all down to personal choice, I pay for my season ticket and I'll choose how to use it.

[ellis9]

Don't care when kick off is, had it been a league game or European game I would have been there. On Saturday I enjoyed a stroll down to the pub, a very competitive and enjoyable game of rugby and a few beers. No excuses for not being at Welford Road, I probably won't be there on Friday either. As far as I'm concerned it's all down to personal choice, I pay for my season ticket and I'll choose how to use it.

If the Tigers game was on Friday or Sunday, you'd have gone then?

This is the point I'm making. If the game was on Friday or Sunday, more people probably would have attended. Also, people say we should have more games on a Saturday at 3pm as this apparently means more people will attend. However, having this game kick off at 3pm on a Saturday meant fans stayed away as it clashed with England.