RUGBY NEWS - A grand total of 30,701 fans watched Vodacom United Rugby Championship match between the Stormers and the Sharks as a planned protest by former union administrators flopped.
The turnout defied threats of a protest led by some disgruntled former Western Province Rugby administrators who claim to be unhappy about SA Rugby’s continuing administration of the union.
Despite their insistence that the majority of WP clubs supported the protest action, less than 30 people turned up, according to eyewitnesses.
The atmosphere inside the stadium had the feeling of a final, which is incredible considering both teams did not have any of their frontline Springboks available.
For Stormers head coach John Dobson, it is a relief as he admitted after the match that he was concerned the protest would spoil the day.
“I was worried that the team would have an interface or interaction with the [protesters] but I didn’t see anything,” says Dobson.
“I would have been really disappointed if [the protest] affected the team and team’s performance. I think we’re one of the areas of Western Province rugby that is doing well. I’d be sad if that got disrupted like that. It was probably a reasonable outcome for us.”
The crowd that watched a nail-biting encounter between the coastal rivals was the largest to attend a non-playoff Stormers home game since the Super Rugby clash against New Zealand outfit the Chiefs in 2017.
“I said to the team before the game that I think this was our biggest crowd since 2017,” Dobson says.
“And that’s for an ordinary league game, not a knock-out game and without the Springboks. We feel that’s great and a brilliant experience for the players. It’s brilliant and it’s shows we are in a new direction and we’re building something special here at Greenpoint.”
