1
'Shame on you' - Viewers notice depressing off-field sight at Wales defeat
By Ian Cameron
The Principality Stadium is usually a cauldron of passion and pride for Welsh rugby and its fans but it became the scene of a sobering exodus on Sunday night as rugby fans streamed out early during Wales' record 52-20 thrashing by Australia.
The defeat marked a historic low for Wales, extending their losing streak to 11 Tests and pushing the team into uncharted depths of despair in their 143-year history.
The early departures of fans - in some cases a full 20 minutes before the final whistle in Cardiff - caught the eye of viewers at home and those within the stadium.
On X rugby journalist Sarah Rendell commented: “Wales fans pour out of the Principality before full time as the team fall to their 11th consecutive Test loss. They haven't lost every game in a calendar year since 1937 and they have one game left of 2024, against world champions South Africa. Bleak times in Cardiff.”
Leigh-Catherine - a self-described “fiercely patriotic Welsh woman” - posted: “At the stadium with fans leaving in droves B4 [before] full time. Sack Gatland and the rest of coaching squad plus executives in charge of WRU. This is heartbreaking.”
Others criticized the fans for abandoning their team. One English rugby supporter wrote: “Shame on you Wales fans leaving early. You could at least applaud your team’s effort; I’m English and watched to the (bitter) end.”
Wales’ dismal performance on the field only compounded the misery of another defeat. Despite Australia’s Samu Kerevi being shown a red card early in the second half, the Wallabies ran riot, with hooker Matt Faessler and full-back Tom Wright each scoring hat-tricks. Len Ikitau, Nick Frost, and Noah Lolesio also added their names to the scoresheet, as Wales’ defensive frailties were laid bare.
The boos that greeted the final whistle were bad enough but against the backdrop of a stadium half-empty before the game concluded was even worse. “Seeing Wales fans leaving early in their thousands, and booing at the end of the game hurts more than any single result," wrote one fan who captured the Welsh mood.
With world champions South Africa looming in their final Test of 2024, the pressure on head coach Warren Gatland is reaching boiling point. His second tenure has now yielded 17 losses from 23 matches, leaving questions not only about his future but about the overall state of Welsh rugby.
Trending on RugbyPass
2
South Africa vs England player ratings | 2024 Autumn Nations Series
3
All Blacks player ratings vs France
4
Netherlands serve up Tier 2 shock as another World Cup side slayed
5
Latest Comments
Mallia deserves 8 at least. Brains and skills for the comeback. Him, Garcia and Albornoz the core of The Pumas attack. Hope to see them in the 15s against France
Go to commentsYeah nar I pretty much agree with that sentiment, wasn't just about the lineout though.
Yeah, I think it's the future of SR, even TRC. Graham above just now posting about how good a night it was with a dbl header of ENGvSA and NZvFrance, and now I don't want to kick SA or Argentina out of TRC but it would be great if in this next of the woods 2 more top teams could come in to create more of these sort of nights (for rugby's appeal). Often Arg and SA and both travel here and you get those games but more often doesn't work out right.
Obviously a long way off but USA and Japan are the obvious two. First thing we need to do is get Eddie Jones kicked out of Japan so they can start improving again and then get a couple of US teams in SRP (even if one its just a US based and augmented Jaguares).
It will start off the whole conferences are crap debate again (which I will continue to argue vehemently against), but imagine a 6 team Pacific conference, Tokyo Sunwolves (drafted from Tokyo JRLO teams), Tokyo All Stars (made up of best remaining foreign players and overseas drafts), ALL Nihon (best of local non Tokyo based talent, inc China/Korea etc, with mainland Japan), a could of West Coast american franchises and perhaps a second self PI driven Hawai'i based team, or Jagaures. So I see a short NFL like 3 or 4 month comp as fitting best, maybe not even a full round, NZvAUSvPAC, all games taking place within a 6hr window. Model for NZ will definitely still require a competitive and funded NPC!
On the Crusaders, I liked last years ending with Grace on the bench (ovbiously form dependent but thats how it ended) and Lio-Willie at 8. I could have Blackadder trying to be a 7 but think balance will be used with him at 6 and Kellow as 7. Scott Barrett is an international 6 sized player. It is just NZ style/model that pushes him into the tight, I reckon he'd be a great loose player, and saders have Strange and Cahill as bigger players (plus that change could draw someone like Darry back). Same with Haig now, hes not grown yet but Barrett hight and been playing 6, now that the Highlanders have only chosen two locks he'll be playing lock, and that is going to change his growth trajectory massively, rather than seeing him grow like an International 6.
Go to comments