is the Rainbow Cup still going ahead?

[riocard911]

Courtesy of Wikipedia - number of senior male rugby players by country:

Ireland: 25,440
Wales: 22,408
Italy: 15,848
Scotland: 11,687

Pro12 Total: 75,383

South Africa: 113,174 (1.5 times approx the number in the other Pro16 countries combined)

***

England: 131,399
France: 124,079
Japan: 48,470
New Zealand: 27,726
Australia: 39,380
Argentina: No figure

[Xanthippe]

Courtesy of Wikipedia - number of senior male rugby players by country:

Ireland: 25,440
Wales: 22,408
Italy: 15,848
Scotland: 11,687

Pro12 Total: 75,383

South Africa: 113,174 (1.5 times approx the number in the other Pro16 countries combined)

***

England: 131,399
France: 124,079
Japan: 48,470
New Zealand: 27,726
Australia: 39,380
Argentina: No figure

Why on earth would you use the number of registered of senior males as an indicator of how popular a sport is in a particular country?

As per the World Rugby participation figures for 2019 the number of people playing rugby in the Rainbow Cup nations were:

South Africa:	691,559	(635,288 registered / 56,271 estimated unregistered)
Ireland:	209,906	(94,067 registered / 115,839 estimated unregistered)
Scotland:	182,131	(40,050 registered / 136,081 estimated unregistered) 
Wales:		107,959	(107,959 registered / no estimated unregistered number submitted)
Italy:		96,088	(77,739 registered / 18,349 estimated unregistered)

These numbers would suggest that the total number of players in the 4 Pro14 nations is 86% of those playing in South Africa whereas South Africa only has 20% of the Pro14 numbers playing 'social/fun/unregistered' rugby.

To me that would suggest that there would be a bigger % of the relevant populations who would watch televised games






p.s. Did anyone watching the Leinster game last night notice the number of women/girls attending - I thought it was very obvious and absolutely fantastic to see. They (we) are there all the time but the smaller numbers last night seemed to make it more obvious than normal.

[Ruckedtobits]

What a great performance by Benneton, currently 35-8 ahead on 60 mins. They have survived the mauls, excelled in their tackling, been strong in the scrum and showed great flair in attack, particularly from half-backs.

Treviso No 8 has been a stunning performer and has outplayed Marcel Coetzee totally. Negri was also superb but star of the show, thus far is out-half Garbiosa who has controlled the attack and tempo of the game.

The game has looked like a good indicator that SA fitness may not be as good as they think, if you keep the ball in play.

Well done Treviso.