- Wallabies TV viewing figures are a bad read
- 561,000 people watched the victory over Wales
- Many more people watched the last women’s Origin match
The Wallabies ushered in a new era under manager Joe Schmidt with a win on Saturday, but Australian sports fans still need convincing to get behind the team.
Television audience figures revealed by News Corporation shows that 561,000 people tuned into Channel 9 to watch the match on open television and streaming.
That’s about half the number of viewers who watched Queensland beat NSW in the women’s State of Origin series decider.
It also equated to an audience of around 200,000 fewer viewers than the 744,000 who watched the Broncos take on the Panthers in the NRL’s Friday night match this weekend.
On Channel 7, Essendon’s win over Collingwood also comfortably outperformed the Wallabies’ game’s viewing figures.
But on a positive note, attendance figures for the Wallabies vs Wales match improved on the 520,000 who watched the Bledisloe Cup last year, in a sign of some improvement.
More wins will surely lead to more fans giving the Wallabies a chance, and new captain Liam Wright was delighted with the 25-14 victory.
“Yeah, a great result. We weren’t perfect tonight by any means, but the determination we showed there… I’m really pleased with the result,” captain Wright said.
Wallabies’ viewing figures painted a grim reality for the rugby team
Far more people tuned in to the women’s State of Origin decider than to the win over Wales.
‘There’s been a lot of talk about the World Cup… it hasn’t been swept under the carpet.
‘We’ve learned a lot. We’ve shown a lot of videos from that game; areas we could have taken advantage of but didn’t and areas they took advantage of and we need to be careful of.
‘But the boys have really taken the liberty of not just hiding away, of running away from the fact, but of learning from it and growing as boys.
‘Not only as players but as people, because it was a difficult time.’