Sevens: Crowds small but encouraging

Two fans Aaliyah McMahon (left) and Shontell Te Kaawa enjoy the Bayleys National Sevens at the weekend. Photo / Ben Fraser

Despite crowd numbers looking sparse at the National Sevens in Rotorua, the spectator numbers have been growing year on year according to the Bay of Plenty Rugby Union.

The union's chief executive, Mike Rogers, said the official crowd numbers had not been confirmed but he understood they were up on the year before at the Rotorua International Stadium.

"We are not comfortable with the attendance but it is growing year on year which is a good sign."

He said there was certainly plenty of room for growth in that area and he hoped it continued to grow each year.

"Hopefully people keep talking about it and more people come along next year."

The Bayleys National Sevens tournament features the best provincial sevens teams in the country and moved to Rotorua in 2014, after being held in Queenstown for a decade.

In August last year the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) confirmed the event would be staying put in the Bay of Plenty until at least 2018. However, the event could still move to another city within the Bay and the venue for next year is still to be confirmed.

Rogers said it would not be making that decision anytime soon and a full review, which was normal practice, would take place following the latest event at the weekend.

Rogers said the feedback from the NZRU and the teams taking part at the National Sevens was very good this year and they were improving in many areas as hosts, including with things like the whanau zone and the general running of the event.

"We were really pleased. The feedback again this year was we had grown the event on last year," he said. "And that is what we are wanting to do - grow it year on year."

The Rotorua International Stadium has a capacity of about 26,000 people. Only a small fraction of the stadium was filled on both days this year.