Spot on. One of my most enjoyable RL days out. The atmosphere was absolutely electric, shame it sounds like it didn't come across as this on the BBC.

As one of the 45k, all I can say is that anybody who didn't go missed out. The whole day was spot on. Cardiff did us proud.

45k is not a bad result at all. Good start, let's hope for sell out semis and final.

I thought it was an excellent crowd, more than the final in 2000 iirc



Great work all concerned and definitely progress.

Very high proportion of the crowd seemed to be "non-traditional", which could be seen as a good or bad thing depending on whether you want to focus on the interest from outside the game, or the lack of support from inside the game. Our train back to Manchester was absolutely rammed when it left Cardiff but was almost empty after Hereford.



The "outsiders" sat near me absolutely loved it. Some Welsh RU fans behind were groaning at the force of pretty much every tackle.

Well said that man. Yesterday was my first trip to Cardiff and I was thoroughly impressed with the entire set up, great being able to get served quickly in the pubs then take a quick two minute stroll into the ground. Fantastic with the roof on, nothing like what I was expecting.



Not sure when we will next see RL in Cardiff, but I sure hope it is soon.

Great day out yesterday, you can't beat Cardiff in terms of pre game atmosphere with the ground right in the centre of town. There seemed to be a lot of non-heartlands folk there, I think its a big opportunity for the RFL to build on this and try host a game there each year be it an international / challenge cup final / grand final (although I know the last two are highly unlikely)!

This why it's so important to grow the international game, make a big event out of internationals and host them in places like cardiff and wembley because it brings the game to a whole other audience who wouldn't otherwise be bothered about a cc or gf involving the likes of warrington, hull st helens et al.



I have never heard as many southern accents at an rl game as the england aus one at wembley in 2011.

Agreed, international games gives all the fans something to cheer on (their home nation) and helps them feel attached to them as opposed to two northern teams they're unlikely to have much affiliation to. Playing at the likes of Cardiff & Wembley gives more of a "wow" factor and importance to the games too as opposed to always using the likes of Wigan, Hull & Huddersfield's grounds for internationals, for which the "Non traditionals" would be more likely to attend imo.

I agree that internationals are the way forward. The difficulty is what international.



Playing Australia or New Zealand is a draw as it's a competitive game.



We need to boost the French and Welsh national sides. At Cardiff for a Wales England international is something you could do every year to grow the game. But getting 40k to watch it is difficult due to imbalance in the sides.



Maybe a Celtic v England combining Irish and Scottish players ie brough would help, but then do you lose the fan loyalty to Wales.



It's a tough call to grow the international game when we can't get Australia here every year.

a conspiracy theorist would say that Leeds are in the RFL's camp, while other clubs such as my own are in the rebel camp and maybe aren't promoting events as good as they should be as a result.

Blimey, that's a mad conspiracy

We need a more structured international diary - it's that simple IMO.



Home Nations need to play more games, not just 3/4 matches shoehorned in at the end of a season. The only way sides like Wales & France will get better is if they play more regularly & against decent opposition (like England). On the back of more games & better players the support should follow, filtering all the way down to grassroots.



I think we need to dedicate a two week period around March time to International RL in the Northern Hemisphere. It doesn't have to be a makeshift 'tournament', just test matches, marketed as 'the Spring Internationals' or something like that. Keep it annual & make sure all the sides are playing each other and hopefully we'll see the sport grow.



Throw in a mid-season annual test against France around June, and structure Oct/Nov around a four year cycle.

I suspect it comes back to the basic understanding - some club owners don't give a about the game beyond their own clubs.