Seven Things We Learned From The First Seven Rounds In The URC: 2/7

Crowds on the rise

What about attendances? Well, the figures show they are up on the corresponding period last season.

There’s also been a steady rise as the campaign has progressed, with the last three rounds having produced the highest combined totals.

Last season, the 53 matches over the opening seven weeks drew a combined attendance of 409,941 at an average of 7,735.

This year, all 56 scheduled games have been played and they have attracted 439,204 fans with an improved average of 7,843.

Round 6 was the high point, with a whopping 98,451 through the turnstiles, aided significantly by a season’s best 49,246 at the Aviva Stadium for the meeting of Leinster and Munster.

There were also impressive tallies in Round 5 (72,391) and Round 7 (74,828), amid a notable upward curve from the first four weeks.

By comparison, the highest combined figure for a full round of eight matches in the opening seven weeks last season was 70,829.

Looking at individual fixtures so far this term, there have been 12 games that have drawn crowds in excess of 10,000.

Ten of those have come in Ireland and two in South Africa, with the second highest number - 24,515 - turning out at Pretoria’s Loftus Versfeld for last weekend’s showdown between the Vodacom Bulls and the Hollywoodbets Sharks.

So here then are the top ten attendances this season:

1.  49,246 (Leinster v Munster, Rd 6)

2.  24,515 (Vodacom Bulls v Hollywoodbets Sharks, Rd 7)

3.  15,664 (Leinster v Scarlets, Rd 5)

4.  15,045 (Munster v DHL Stormers, Rd 5)

5.  14,960 (Ulster v Munster, Rd 4)

6.  14,434 (Leinster v Edinburgh Rugby, Rd 3)

7.  12,659 (Hollywoodbets Sharks v Dragons RFC, Rd 6)

8.  12,403 (Ulster v Edinburgh Rugby, Rd 7)

9.  11,471 (Ulster v Emirates Lions, Rd 5)

10. 11,239 (Munster v Hollywoodbets Sharks, Rd 1)