HC semi Sarries vs Clermont

First topic message reminder :

Well played Sarries, I didn't see that score line coming!

Hound of Harrow wrote:Sin - what's worrying is that only 35,000 tickets have been sold for the final.

Hard to fathom why that is the case.

if Munster win tomorrow..no problem. If Toulon win....no amount of marketing will get a big crowd

Well done Sarries, one of those games where all 23 players hulk out and tackle out of their skins.

Not sure if they can sustain that intensity for the next month though, might see a very different style by the final.

Oh and I loved that win even more as I knew it'd bring out all the bitter posters, and I wan't wrong   

Sarries still struggling on the hearts and minds front.

Fair enough - makes sense. I've got my ticket

Great occasion.

Hound of Harrow wrote:Sin - what's worrying is that only 35,000 tickets have been sold for the final.

Hard to fathom why that is the case.

Sure they get so many damn finals I'm sure they are in no rush to get tickets! However If Munster get to the final they could probably sell out the stadium twice over.

46-6  

  

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

Hound of Harrow wrote:Sin - what's worrying is that only 35,000 tickets have been sold for the final.

Hard to fathom why that is the case.

Sure they get so many damn finals I'm sure they are in no rush to get tickets! However If Munster get to the final they could probably sell out the stadium twice over.

It wasn't that long back that Munster folk bought tickets for the final once they were through their pool.

I'm pretty sure the last 3-4 seasons have seen the final virtually sold out before the finalists were known; allowing for the finalists' allocation.

Well won Sarries!

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/apr/24/saracens-clermont-auvergne-heineken-cup

Very perceptive.

Not being the greatest Saracens' supporter, I have to say that that was one of the most complete team performances I've ever seen in HC rugby. Clermont were completely eviscerated with or without the dubious calls from Nige to wreck the game as a true spectacle.

On the ticketing/marketing side, maybe Sarries should call in the Dolphin Rugby Club secretary to manage their arrangements. S/He could not make a worse hash of it.

[ed] Do Munster give their flags away for free? If so, that's impressive marketing.
I defer from wearing even wearing a Tigers' official shirt these days because I don't want to be a sandwich board man for a company that assists the Israelis tearing up Palastinian homelands.

quinsforever wrote:Who chose twickenham as the SF venue? ERC

Who hoes the dates for QF and SF giving no time to fill the stadium? ERC

Who did ZERO to expand the crowd at a serious showcase event (last HC match in England FFS - even I could have sold a few tickets with that as the catchphrase) - E R fupping C

That is so ignorant it beggers belief.

Why have all recent SF's had far bigger crowds under exactly the same conditions.

The ERC are responsible for people not being interesting in watching Saracens... really.

Personally I have zero understanding of how the marketing works (or doesn't) but it was sad to see the stadium so empty. That said, in the years to come every man and his dog will claim to have been at that match.

I must admit to being one poster eating some humble pie, I was certain that Clermont would crush Sarries by 15-20 points. Never could I have imagined that sort of performance from them yesterday. Class all around, Burger and Ashton were immense. A few decisions gave Sarries the rub of the green but that happens during matches.

Well done Sarries and their fans and hopefully Munster will do the same today. I would really love a Sarries Munster final.

On a couple of other points each team is given an allocation of tickets and it is their responsibility to sell.
Saracens were given 4000 for the QF and sent 2500 back.
Half of those they did sell went to Ulster fans living in England.

Fact is they have one of the smallest fan bases.
Fact is rugby fans have known the date of the knock out stages since the start of the season
Fact is anyone could get a ticket for £15

Also the compliant about only having a 3 week turn around is laughable especially in light of the fact that in he new competition it will certainly be no more and could easily be 2 weeks due to the French insistence on earlier finish.

Has to be said that most of the ERC regulations are some farcical when it comes to the HEC.

The seedings regime which causes such imbalance in the pools, the insistence on relying of these same imbalanced pools to determine the location of the QFs, the so-called neutrality of grounds for SFs and naming the final venue so far in advance. At least those bits could be sorted out.

Portnoy's Complaint wrote:Has to be said that most of the ERC regulations are some farcical when it comes to the HEC.

1 The seedings regime which causes such imbalance in the pools, 2 the insistence on relying of these same imbalanced pools to determine the location of the QFs, 3 the so-called neutrality of grounds for SFs and 4 naming the final venue so far in advance. At least those bits could be sorted out.

1 The new seeding will not address any inbalance infact it will may well make it worse.
2 Because of point 1 this doesn't apply
3 As opposed to Saracens playing Clermont in Dublin, Edinburgh or Cardiff, with less than 3 weeks notice, and getting even less than 25,000 - not commercially a good idea
4 Will not change - they seem ready to announce Rome now

All I can say is if. If I knew I could get tickets and watch that game for 15 quid at Twickenham, I would have been there.

Portnoy's Complaint wrote:Has to be said that most of the ERC regulations are some farcical when it comes to the HEC.

The seedings regime which causes such imbalance in the pools, the insistence on relying of these same imbalanced pools to determine the location of the QFs, the so-called neutrality of grounds for SFs and naming the final venue so far in advance. At least those bits could be sorted out.

The seeding only came into being about 4 years ago, so its not as if they were not trying to address the problem. Some would have said that the Serge Blanco influence was the reason they persisted with no seeding for so long as Biarritz always seemed to get the Italian team.

How do you think they should have allocated the QFs (without having a home and away) bearing in mind that Munster been to 11 semi finals and only got 2 home ones! That doesn't sound fair, does it?

You need to look at the bright side of things. Having done it so often, Munster have no fear travelling anywhere now.

Whats your problem with naming the venue of the final so far in advance?

Announcing the final so far in advance makes sense - as for many the ticket is bought early as a day out.

I attended 10 finals in a row, only stopping because I refuse to ever go to Murrayfield again and am bored with trips to Cardiff every second year.

LondonTiger wrote:Announcing the final so far in advance makes sense - as for many the ticket is bought early as a day out.

I attended 10 finals in a row, only stopping because I refuse to ever go to Murrayfield again and am bored with trips to Cardiff every second year.

Yea, the Millenium is great, but Cardiff is a kip. At least you can drive to it! We have to cross water to get there.

Incidentally, someone has posted an email from Sarries to anyone who has bought tickets from them in the past saying they have taken 5,000 tickets and to book quickly. One Munster fan said they had got 4 from them, so you will probably sell your allocation out, but if Munster make the final, the Millenium will be a sell-out and it will be like a home game to Munster.

I think it will be Toulon in the final though - it will be a miracle if Munster win today.

geoff998rugby wrote:

quinsforever wrote:Who chose twickenham as the SF venue? ERC

Who hoes the dates for QF and SF giving no time to fill the stadium? ERC

Who did ZERO to expand the crowd at a serious showcase event (last HC match in England FFS - even I could have sold a few tickets with that as the catchphrase) - E R fupping C

That is so ignorant it beggers belief.

Why have all recent SF's had far bigger crowds under exactly the same conditions.

The ERC are responsible for people not being interesting in watching Saracens... really.

Crowds haven't been that much bigger in recent years, normally French held SF's get around 30,000 as Clermont v Munster did last year.

Ascertaining who is to blame isn't that easy, I think the choice of Twickenham wasn't a great one and made the crowd look even worse. But obviously Sarries small fanbase meant that they couldn't get as big a crowd as Ulster did a few years ago at the Aviva for example. But Sarries have shown they can get a big crowd with the right marketing as London does have a pretty good record at coming out to watch a big game regardless of their affiliation, so there are people interesting in watching Sarries.

The thing about £15 tickets as well is how many actually were there? I doubt they were in the majority. But anyway it's a shame such a great match didnt get a bigger crowd and this thread has been clogged up as to why. As I thought Sarries were fantastic yesterday.

Sin é wrote:

LondonTiger wrote:Announcing the final so far in advance makes sense - as for many the ticket is bought early as a day out.

I attended 10 finals in a row, only stopping because I refuse to ever go to Murrayfield again and am bored with trips to Cardiff every second year.

Yea, the Millenium is great, but Cardiff is a kip. At least you can drive to it! We have to cross water to get there.

Incidentally, someone has posted an email from Sarries to anyone who has bought tickets from them in the past saying they have taken 5,000 tickets and to book quickly. One Munster fan said they had got 4 from them, so you will probably sell your allocation out, but if Munster make the final, the Millenium will be a sell-out and it will be like a home game to Munster.

I think it will be Toulon in the final though - it will be a miracle if Munster win today.

I've seen enough of Munster to know miracles do happen. Good luck today.

HammerofThunor wrote:

Sin é wrote:

LondonTiger wrote:Announcing the final so far in advance makes sense - as for many the ticket is bought early as a day out.

I attended 10 finals in a row, only stopping because I refuse to ever go to Murrayfield again and am bored with trips to Cardiff every second year.

Yea, the Millenium is great, but Cardiff is a kip. At least you can drive to it! We have to cross water to get there.

Incidentally, someone has posted an email from Sarries to anyone who has bought tickets from them in the past saying they have taken 5,000 tickets and to book quickly. One Munster fan said they had got 4 from them, so you will probably sell your allocation out, but if Munster make the final, the Millenium will be a sell-out and it will be like a home game to Munster.

I think it will be Toulon in the final though - it will be a miracle if Munster win today.

I've seen enough of Munster to know miracles do happen. Good luck today.

Thank HOT. We'll need it bigtime.

Big odds on a Munster win. probally worth a few quid.

I went for a Sarries/Munster double, worked out about 9/1.  Halfway there.  Come On MUNSTER!!!!!

C'mon Toulon I want to see a Wilko vs Farrell final (Master vs Apprentice) 

Munster 7/2 on sky bet, worth a go

Scrumpy wrote:C'mon Toulon I want to see a Wilko vs Farrell final (Master vs Apprentice) 

Never thought of it that way. Would be a Marketing person's dream match up! Great observation.

In view of some comments here this is of interest, in the Telegraph


Saracens, who hosted a record crowd of more than 80,000 for an Aviva Premiership game against Harlequins at Wembley last month after a season-long promotion, had no control over the marketing and pricing for the game, while it was the Rugby Football Union that recommended the game be played at Twickenham.


That was no doubt in part to ensure that the hire fee paid by tournament organiser European Rugby Cup, which was thought to be around £150,000, remained ‘in the game’ rather than spent, say, on hiring Stadiummk in Milton Keynes, where Northampton played Perignan in the 2011 semi-finals in front of a crowd of 18,231.


ERC had expressed concerns about using Twickenham as a venue, given that semi-finals in England have traditionally averaged attendances of around 25,000.


The lowest ticket price was halved to £15 but it had no impact on increasing last season’s attendance when Toulon beat Saracens at headquarters

Just easier to blame the ERC than the PRL I suppose

Where do the PRL come into that Geoff.  I'm sure it says it was an RFU decision.  If so then the blame lies with the RFU.

geoff998rugby wrote:In view of some comments here this is of interest, in the Telegraph


Saracens, who hosted a record crowd of more than 80,000 for an Aviva Premiership game against Harlequins at Wembley last month after a season-long promotion, had no control over the marketing and pricing for the game, while it was the Rugby Football Union that recommended the game be played at Twickenham.


That was no doubt in part to ensure that the hire fee paid by tournament organiser European Rugby Cup, which was thought to be around £150,000, remained ‘in the game’ rather than spent, say, on hiring Stadiummk in Milton Keynes, where Northampton played Perignan in the 2011 semi-finals in front of a crowd of 18,231.


ERC had expressed concerns about using Twickenham as a venue, given that semi-finals in England have traditionally averaged attendances of around 25,000.


The lowest ticket price was halved to £15 but it had no impact on increasing last season’s attendance when Toulon beat Saracens at headquarters

Just easier to blame the ERC than the PRL I suppose

Just easier to blame the PRL eh Geoff, hilarious!

Yeah, I was going to say it's a hell of a lot easier to blaim the ERC over the PRL. At least they are directly involved (note they control the marketing).   so the ERC market the Irish semis better? Perhaps there's something to this Irish bias thing from the French. The relatively low attendance must be the IRFU's fault

Does it have to be someones 'fault'?

Notch wrote:Does it have to be someones 'fault'?

Er...are you new to the internet? Of course it has to be someone's fault. Otherwise what will people rant and rave about?