The All Blacks may not be as popular in Japan as many thought. Photo / Photosport
The All Blacks may not be as popular in Japan as many thought. Photo / Photosport
By Gregor Paul in Tokyo
The All Blacks are facing the rare prospect of playing in front of a half-empty stadium this weekend with ticket sales for their Yokohama clash with the Wallabies said to be sluggish.
And by sluggish, Nissan Stadium, which holds 72,000, could have about 40,000 peoplein it come kick-off.
But it is not looming as a financial disaster for New Zealand Rugby as they are not in Japan to make money.
The test is being under-written by the Japanese Rugby Union which means the financial risks and rewards sit with them.
NZR has previously asked the All Blacks to play tests purely to bank the extra revenue. That was the case when they played a fourth Bledisloe Cup test in Hong Kong in 2008 and 2010 and Tokyo in 2009 and also when they played England at Twickenham in 2012 and Ireland in Chicago in 2016.
But the test in Yokohama is actually a home game for the All Blacks that NZR has opted to play in Japan instead of New Zealand.
If they had wanted to make money, they would have played at Eden Park, but they were willing to sacrifice the income so the All Blacks could gain longer exposure to the conditions and venues where they will be playing at next year's World Cup.
The All Blacks may not be as popular in Japan as many thought. Photo / Photosport
A test against Japan on November 3 had long sat on the calendar so it was agreed that it made sense to shift the third Bledisloe to Yokohama, which also meant that the players could have an extra week's rest after returning from South Africa where the All Blacks were for their last Rugby Championship test.
The finer detail of the financial arrangements around this test haven't been fully divulged but NZR is understood to have set things up to ensure they wouldn't end up out of pocket if ticket sales weren't great.
The possibly significant number of empty seats will be more of a concern for the Japanese Rugby Union, who know that next year they will be hosting multiple games that will require strong neutral support.
If a test featuring two of the best teams in the world can't grab the public imagination then there will be some worried officials about what might happen next year when sides such as Romania and Namibia will be playing at the World Cup.
It is understood that some tickets are being given away to entice potential rugby converts into the ground this Saturday and that a late sales push could see more people than expected turn up.
